Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author Note: The title is from the band with the same name of course. Happy Halloween :)

SMASHING PUMPKINS

Seth liked Halloween. He always had done, what was there not to like? He could watch back-to-back horror movies, eat candy and indulge in all the gruesome shit that he loved. Okay, so he frequently did that anyway but Halloween was the holiday when everyone else did too and it was always pretty awesome to see the world turn orange and black for a night.

Seth especially liked seeing how people decorated their houses and front yards; there were some places that went all out. His bosses, Hunter and Stephanie, got professionals in to cover their impressive mansion from top to bottom with Halloween-themed goodness. He was on his way over there now for the McMahon-Helmsley Halloween party. He'd only started working for them a few months ago, they ran one of the world's most talked-about video game companies and he got to be part of it. So far it'd been tiring but everything Seth had hoped for. He could flex his creative muscles and demonstrate his ruthlessly badass business sense too. Hunter had taken time recently to tell Seth that he was rewarding Hunter's faith in him, and one of the high-ups Kane had started spending his coffee breaks with Seth, they discussed business and Halloween horror-movie marathons. Only Randy Orton, another rising star in the company, hadn't been welcoming.

That was fine; Seth didn't like him either.

So here Seth was, dressed up like Batman – he had the leather for it and the mask and Batman was the man – and on his way to Hunter and Stephanie's. He was walking slowly so that he could admire what people had done to their houses. He hadn't had a chance to look yet this year, work had been so busy and he liked to frequent the gym too which altogether hadn't left him with much time for anything else. So he was taking the opportunity now to enjoy himself, watching bunches of costumed little kids move down the sidewalk with their parents, older kids without any supervision and hooting teenagers. There were couples all dressed up – he could see some Avengers-themed pairings going on, a couple who looked like something out a Greek myth and one really badass Jedi group. A few people had clearly been drinking already, their costumes were kind of askew. Everyone was smiling though and no one was egging anyone's house yet. It was that sweet spot on Halloween night that Seth really loved.

"Happy Halloween!"

Seth grinned behind his mask as a stream of kids ran past, hopped up on sugar with long-suffering parents accompanying them. He exchanged nods with an older couple who had a life-size witch perched on their rooftop, cackling whenever anyone passed by their gate. Another house had a mass of cobwebs strung around the front porch interspersed with blinking lights. Everyone had made an effort, except for one house.

Seth paused, the house was pretty small and there were some pumpkins piled up near the short front path but that was it. No, wait, there was something halfway propped up against the siding, was that a skeleton? It'd been taken out at the knee. And did a couple of those pumpkins have fist-shaped holes punched through them? Now that Seth really looked, he could see Halloween streamers and banners trampled into the mud, along with broken shards of colored lights. There was a crash from somewhere inside the house and then something was thrown out the front door. It rolled down to the gate – it was a cheap plastic cauldron, the kind that Halloween candy was sold in. Seth nudged it with the toe of his boot; there was another crash, what the fuck was going on?

A man stomped out of the house and threw himself down into one of the chairs on the front porch. Seth blinked; the guy was dressed in tattered jeans, a dirty-looking vest and a clearly well-loved leather jacket. His face was lost in shadow but his body still caught Seth's attention; it was nipped in at the waist but built at the shoulders and the guy moved like he wasn't afraid to throw a punch. Seth liked what he was seeing, a lot.

He took a moment to glance around the yard though. Did the guy actually live there? Or had he trashed someone else's house? Seth thought about his cellphone, tucked away in his bag because his Batsuit didn't have pockets. He could call the cops; just let them know what he'd found. They probably got a lot of calls like that on Halloween.

But Seth didn't move yet. He stared because the guy was shifting in his seat and the light burning outside the door was now highlighting his face, showing off one of the most intense gazes that Seth had ever seen, unkempt hair (of course) and a really attractive challenge of an expression. Seth liked challenges; they always brought out the best in him.

He really had to get going, Hunter and Stephanie were expecting him and this guy was either having some really destructive Halloween fun at someone else's expense or he was trashing his own place, both options spoke volumes.

"Get off my lawn, Batman."

The guy's words were toneless but they carried. Seth glanced down to check that, yes, his feet weren't even past the front gate.

"I'm nowhere near your lawn."

"But you were thinking about it."

That was true. Seth shifted his weight from foot to foot and still didn't move on because what he was seeing bugged him. What if some kid tried trick or treating here? The guy would probably throw a pumpkin at them.

"Looks like someone else got to it first."

The guy barked out a laugh. It was a really startling sound, especially since he was holding his body so tense. Seth frowned behind his mask, he couldn't take his eyes off the guy. He was all stripes of light and shadow, looking like he'd rolled out of a bar and then apparently trashed his own house.

"Yeah, someone. Someone who fucking jetted to spend the holiday with his family, because there's nothing important here, oh no."

Right, okay, so a break-up. That made sense and Seth's heart ran a little faster at hearing that the guy had apparently had a boyfriend. Seth really should have been heading off but he could see now that the stranger's shoulders were starting to slump and there was something in the way his head was twitching that made Seth's chest clench. The guy might have reacted self-destructively but he was clearly hurt too. And he was going to spend Halloween alone.

Seth absolutely could not take him to the McMahon-Helmsley party.

Fuck. The party.

Seth cursed loudly and glanced down the street, he really had to go though oddly he almost didn't want to. He actually wanted to spend more time in the company of a lunatic who'd trashed his own property post-break-up.

He couldn't. He has bosses to impress.

He sighed and then raised his voice, breaking the companionable silence. "Well this someone has someplace to be so..."

"So?"

The guy sounded amused now and made no move to get up off the porch. Okay then. Seth managed half a wave before feeling weird about it and stopping.

"So, maybe someone ought to stop destroying Halloween, get inside and stick a horror movie on instead or watch shitty public broadcasting. I don't know."

The guy laughed again and tilted his head, his eyes practically glowing in the dim light.

"You trying to save me, Batman?"

He was being mocking now but there was something else in his tone too, some kind of intrigue? Heat flared through Seth. Not the right time, probably not the right person either. Still, he couldn't help shooting a reply over his shoulder as he headed away from the house and down the sidewalk.

"Some other time."

The guy snorted but didn't throw anything so Seth counted it as a win. He was smiling actually as he made good time towards the McMahon-Helmsley mansion. He hadn't expected that kind of encounter; a weirdly-flirtatious really odd encounter but he'd enjoyed it. He really had. He didn't even know the guy's name but he'd liked talking to him. He'd liked looking at him and being in his presence, wanting to find out what the guy was gonna say or do next. It'd been way too long since Seth had felt that way about anybody.

But the guy clearly had issues and had only just come out of a really affecting break-up. It'd just been one of those weird Halloween encounters, the moon was pretty full too, that was all.

Seth shook his head and pushed all of that out of his mind. He'd reached the party and it was in full swing. He scooped up an expensive and thankfully-full wine glass from an offered tray and made his way through the colorful throng in order to pay homage to his bosses.

Hunter and Stephanie, dressed as a king and queen of course, complimented him on his costume and told him that they were glad he'd been able to make it. Of course he'd made it, they were his bosses and Hunter had put a lot of faith in him, Seth wasn't going to let him down.

So Seth ate from an expensive buffet, made a great impression on a lot of very high-powered industry individuals and felt Randy glare at him furiously pretty much the whole night. Kane poured him several drinks and said that he was impressed with what Seth had achieved so far.

Seth toasted the hosts and immersed himself in the party, making the best kind of impression, everything else be damned.

He didn't think about the stranger until a few days later when, early one weekend morning, he was taking down his Halloween decorations. He'd enjoyed carving the pumpkins that he'd placed outside his door, candles glowing fiendishly within them. This year, he'd carved some band logos and a couple of grinning faces because the classics were classics for a reason. He was sad to see them go but they were starting to smell now.

He wondered, suddenly what was going to happen to the pumpkins that'd been smashed and stacked in that stranger's front yard. The guy hadn't looked bothered about them before, was he just going to leave them there to rot? Seth could totally see that happening. It wasn't his business, only Seth's gut was tugging, maybe the guy had drunk himself into a stupor to try and blot out his break-up and maybe nobody had visited him since that night. Seth could call an ambulance but the guy hadn't seemed like the type who'd react well to that kind of assistance.

What did Seth know? Maybe the guy would be grateful. Yeah, maybe not.

Seth sighed; he was going to drive himself crazy unless he saw what had happened with his own eyes, maybe he could drag the pumpkins away into the trash. That'd make him feel better, as would seeing if the guy was doing okay. So Seth finished filling up garbage sacks with Halloween trash, packed away his durable decorations and headed out. It was a cold sharp day and there weren't many people around. Maybe the stranger would still be sleeping Halloween off, maybe Seth was about to let himself in for a world of trouble. Whatever, he was doing this. It wasn't like it was going to take long, he'd just go up to the door, say that he was passing and had wanted to check that the guy hadn't destroyed himself or any more of his property, then he'd be on his way. His skin might have heated up as he thought about the guy and his heart might have twisted.

Seth gritted his teeth and made for CZ Street determinedly. Only when he got to the house, there was another stranger in the yard, pulling plastic and glass out of the dirt and into a garbage bag. Seth came to an abrupt halt, was this a roommate? A friend helping out? Maybe the guy had been lying and it wasn't his house after all.

Seth was scrambling to rearrange his plans when the new stranger looked up. Woah, the guy was so ridiculously gorgeous that just the sight of him made Seth's mouth dry. He had a football player's build, long dark hair and a seriously assessing expression. Because Seth was stood at his gate staring.

The guy broke out a small amused smile, "Batman."

How did he...? Seth had definitely boxed up his costume the night after Halloween and the only leather he was currently wearing was his jacket. Also, good news, because whoever this guy was, he must have talked to whoever it was that Seth had talked to on Halloween. So the guy was probably okay, good. Seth felt a rush of relief.

"Dean was right," the stranger murmured.

Then he moved closer, dropping the garbage bag and offering a powerful hand.

"Roman, I live here."

Roommate then? Seth shook Roman's hand.

"Seth. I was just dropping by to see if the yard had survived...Dean?"

Roman chuckled and seemed completely at ease talking to a complete stranger. "Sometimes Dean doesn't survive Dean. We're good though, thanks."

Seth nodded, yeah; the yard didn't look like it had suffered any irreparable damage. And Roman was apparently on clean-up duty which didn't seem fair since it'd been Dean who'd done all the trashing. Seth voiced this opinion and Roman's expression darkened.

"It's on me too though. My folks wanted to see me, I left and Dean reacted like Dean."

Oh. Oh. So this was the boyfriend, it hadn't been a break-up then, a bad fight maybe. Roman was back though so they were clearly now on good terms. Seth couldn't say that he was exactly disappointed by the news; he was too busy thinking about Dean and Roman together. Wow.

Whatever Seth had been going to say was swept away by Dean emerging from the house, shirtless and sleep-tousled. Fuck, he looked even better in daylight. He didn't seem affected by the cold and his grin did things to Seth when their eyes met. Dean sauntered down the path and immediately got comfortably close to Roman.

"We fought, we fucked, we conquered," he declared as though finishing off Roman's explanation.

Then he grabbed Roman's shirt and pulled him in for an absolutely filthy kiss that made Seth flush all over, his cock hardening. Fuck. He really hoped it wasn't as obvious as it felt. He should just go now, Dean was clearly fine, very fine, and Seth had stuff to do since it was the weekend and he didn't have to work for once.

This had been a very nice fantasy though and he really did want to stay and watch them because fuck, they made an amazingly-molten-hot sight. He was already looking forward to revisiting that image later. A voice stopped him from leaving though.

"I thought you were going to save me, Batman."

Seth cocked an eyebrow at Dean, who was pretty much plastered to Roman. "Looks like Roman's got you covered."

Dean's gaze warmed up a couple of notches and Seth bit his lip. Roman was the one who spoke next.

"Could do with some help though."

Seth stared at them, his heart thumping loudly. Was that a joke? Or was it actually an invitation? Were they offering what he thought they were offering? They both had hungry looks on their faces and they were looking at him. Seth took a step towards them, his expression incredulous.

"Is this normal for you? Just another day, invite a total stranger into your house?" he wanted to know, silently adding and into your bed.

Roman snorted and shook his head, "Total strangers don't try and talk Dean down, they usually call the police. They don't come back later either. You're a real first."

Okay, so this wasn't their usual routine. Seth was a first, their first. Wow. Seth wet his dry lips. "So this is-?"

"This is stop thinking so hard, you'll break something or I will," Dean barreled in, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, we've got pumpkin soup."

"Pumpkin soup, for breakfast?"

Seth had moved a lot closer to them without realizing it; he only noticed when he felt Roman's hair actually brush against him. Jesus, how had that happened? They were so close now. His hands itched to properly touch them.

"It's got a kick to it," Roman warned.

Dean let out a barking laugh and then abruptly twisted towards the house. He sniffed the air and frowned, taking off up the path and into the house without another word. Roman watched him fondly.

"Could be burned too."

There was a bang from somewhere inside and then Dean yelled, "It'll still be fucking delicious, dickface."

Roman smiled and turned his gaze towards Seth. Seth swallowed, the word 'irresistible' could have made for both of them.

"No pressure," Roman told him.

Seth shook his head, "You don't know me, Dean doesn't know me."

"Dean knows what he needs to know, the rest'll come later."

That made Seth pause because "Later?"

Roman's laugh was a low rumble and he stroked a couple of fingers down Seth's arm, his gaze incendiary. Then he turned and walked towards the house, leaving Seth to make his decision. Seth watched him; he could hear Dean humming loudly and he could smell something good cooking. He could imagine Dean and Roman together and fuck, he could be part of that?

Halloween always had been his favorite holiday.

This had gone amazingly better than expected. Seth shook his head in disbelief but didn't leave. He probably should have been apprehensive or at least suspicious but honestly, all he felt was anticipation, a lot of heat and something that felt like finally, like something clicking firmly into place. His gut was usually reliable and it'd been pulling him towards Dean and now Roman since Halloween. There was his favorite holiday again, that was a killer of a sign. Yeah, he had jobs to do but he could get back to his place later and get everything done then. He prided himself on rolling with the punches and taking maximum advantage of every opportunity and challenge that got thrown at him. This one was way too good, way too irresistible, to pass up. Fuck, Seth couldn't wait.

He set a foot on the path for the first time and then moved quickly to catch up with the others. He paused on the porch and smirked – sat beside the door was a lit pumpkin lantern, the front of it had been carved out to look like a hand giving every visitor the finger. Dean had been busy. Of course he left pumpkin lanterns out after Halloween and when it wasn't even dark.

There were several carved pumpkins dotted throughout the house too, one looked like a snarling dog and one, Seth was very pleased to notice, had been carved to resemble a Batman mask. Dean had made pointed Bat-ears out of sharp pieces of pumpkin and everything.

The pumpkin soup tasted as good as promised. Roman hadn't been lying – it did have a kick to it. In fact, it had such a kick to it that it burned Seth's mouth. Dean and Roman both kissed him better.

-the end