Jillian dumped her suitcase into the back of the car. Dad was still demanding to know what they had been doing in the basement, and Mom had called frantically from a payphone at Wal-Mart once she saw the twins were not with her. Jillian had no clue what they were going to tell them.

She slung her backpack in next - with all its mutilated textbooks - and turned, hearing the crackle of the gravel driveway. She looked in time to see Harrison step up to her. He had an odd expression on his face. He touched her arm and leaned forward. "I took care of the bodies," he whispered in her ear.

The bodies…

Jillian looked away and jerked a nod. She did not trust herself to speak.

Harrison took her hand, and Jillian walked with him back into the house. She had not realized just how much she had missed him since Saturday.

They stepped into the front hall. Jillian could hear Dad bustling around in the kitchen, gathering non-perishable snacks for the family to eat at the motel.

"Are you okay?" Harrison asked, squeezing her fingers.

Jillian shrugged and grabbed the next bag to take to the car.

A creak of floorboards made her turn, and she saw the twins coming in from the den. Katie was moving carefully - and Jillian saw that she was holding Petey. "We found him!" she announced proudly. "Under the couch!"

"Dad says we're gonna sneak him into the motel so he's not here by himself," Amanda promised. She gave the lizard a pat on the head, her previous misgivings toward the reptile seemingly forgotten.

Jillian nodded and reached out to stroke the little scaly head. "Thanks, guys."

Katie gave her a toothy grin, holding her reptilian nephew up. "I'm the one who found him."

"Well, I helped!" Amanda retorted, giving her a shove. Petey jostled in Katie's arms, but he did not seem to mind.

"Can you guys put him in the shoebox for me?" Jillian asked quickly before a wrestling match could break out.

Both girls nodded and turned toward the stairs, starting up carefully.

A strange feeling came over Jillian as she watched them go. "Hey, girls?" she called after them.

Katie and Amanda stopped midway and turned with curious expressions.

She looked at the identical faces and made herself smile. "I love you, guys - you know that?"

Amanda nodded. "We know."

"We love you too," Katie said.

Her sisters continued upstairs.

Jillian swallowed hard.

She felt a thick hand against her back. "Walk me to the door?" Harrison suggested kindly.

She nodded. "Sure."

They both stepped out onto the front porch, and Harrison guided her to the patio table. She sat without a word, barely noticing the frigid seat. Harrison pulled his chair close and sat too, his knees touching hers.

She gazed numbly at the chair beside her - and she could see Slappy sitting there, chuckling darkly over sabotaging Katie's homework. She felt the lump return to her throat and looked away.

Harrison laid a hand on her arm. "You were really broken up earlier," he said slowly.

She gave a shrug.

"Was it bad, living with him?"

She looked at her hands. "No," she said at last, her voice coming out in a whisper. Her fingers curled into fists. "But he was only pretending to be nice to get his favor. So that he could live forever. He was never my friend."

Harrison shifted a little. "If it helps," he said softly, "it looked to me like he really didn't want Mary-Ellen hurting you." He slid his thick fingers into her grip, and she allowed him to hold her hand. "At least he got rid of her for you."

She shuddered a little and pushed the memory away. "Yes, he did," she whispered.

He took her other hand now, his thumbs gently rubbing against each wrist. "And a deal is a deal, partner," he rasped.

Jillian looked up, frowning.

In a flash Harrison yanked her out of her chair, pulling her into a tight hug - and smooshed his mouth against hers. Hard. One thick arm tightened around her waist while his other hand gripped the back of her head, preventing her from breaking away.

Jillian's now freed fists pounded against his chest, but he paid no heed. His muscular arms held her in place, and his huge legs deftly wrapped around her as she thrashed in his embrace, her screams muffled against his thick lips.

Finally, he released her with a giggle, and she sprang to her feet, wiping her mouth. "Harrison Cohen, what is wrong with y - " she started to shriek, but then she stopped cold, staring.

Harrison had dark serious eyes, a chocolatey brown that glowed whenever his large face broke into a friendly smile - but now they were blue. An icy blue. Filled with mocking laughter.

She swallowed, though her mouth had gone dry. She took a step back. "Slappy?" she whispered.

His grin widened. "In the flesh, doll."

THE END

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please put spoiler warnings in your reviews.

If you want to see another Slappy fanfic, check out The Doll and the Dummy, my AU for Slappy's Nightmare. If you want to understand part of my thought process in writing Slappy, check out bunnjoyce (put a dot here) deviantart (dotcom) / journal / Writing-Slappy-from-Goosebumps-to-be-a-Creeper-603863099

The book ends with Slappy body-possessing Jillian. The TV episode ends with Slappy possessing Harrison. I suppose I could've surprised you guys and had Slappy end up inside Petey, but I thought it was fitting that the puppet lover became a puppet himself.

If you had read the book or seen the episode - or read Slappy's Wikipedia article - you probably already guessed WHAT Slappy's favor was going to be, but I wanted to explore WHY he wanted it so much. In the book, Slappy is unconscious for two weeks. From his POV, he saw Jillian in the dressing room, was knocked out by Jimmy, was waken by Mary-Ellen and agreed to hide in the suitcase containing Maxie - and then the suitcase was opened by the exact same girl that was in the dressing room. Less than five minutes later he demands a bride. Either Jillian is just that pretty, or he wanted to get married for other reasons, a la Beetlejuice (or a mixture of both, as this fanfic explores).

Yeah, so Slappy's canon love interest is a preteen birthday clown. I'd like to see them address that in the next film.

Zach: Child brides. Really?

Stine: It was supposed to be creepy!

A special thanks to WendyLeaf for reviewing every chapter since I first posted this fic back in November!