A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone! I realize that not everyone celebrates Halloween, and that by the time I post this, it's not technically Halloween anymore… but oh well. Better late than never, right? I was just enjoying my own Halloween festivities when this little story popped into my head and I just had to get it down.
It's not much, just a little bit of D/L fluffy fun. I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never were. Never will be. Sigh.
"Trick or treat!"
"Oh, my God! You guys are just too cute!" Lindsay exclaimed as she doled out a handful of candies to the crowd of miniature goblins and ghouls crowded around the front door of her apartment.
"We're not cute, lady," a particularly gruesome skeleton informed her. "We're really scary."
"Oh, right. Sorry," Lindsay said, smiling. "Wow. Really… you're just horrifying. So gross."
"That's better," the skeleton said as he accepted the proffered candy. He looked down into his bag, nodding his satisfaction with her offering. He looked back up at Lindsay, cocking his head to the side. "What are you supposed to be?"
Lindsay looked down at her costume. She was particularly proud of it, having spent the better part of the past two nights working on it.
"I'm a strand of DNA," she replied.
"That's not very scary," the skeleton informed her.
"Well, what if I told you I was mutant DNA?"
"Oh, cool! Like in X-Men?"
"Sure," Lindsay laughed. "Just like in X-Men."
"Wow! Neat!" the skeleton said.
"Okay, you guys be good and have fun," Lindsay said, as the group high-tailed it off down the hallway to the next apartment.
"We will. Thank you!"
Lindsay smiled to herself as she closed the door. She checked her watch, noting the time. It was getting to be pretty late and she figured that she'd probably seen the last of the Trick-Or-Treaters for the night. She glanced down into her bowl of candies and shrugged her shoulders as she realized there were only a few pieces left.
"Why not?" she mused aloud to herself, taking the bowl into the living room and plopping down on her couch. She grabbed a treat-sized Kit Kat bar and was about to unwrap it when there was a knock at the door. She sighed, setting the candy down on the coffee table and pushing herself back up from the couch.
The knock sounded again, louder this time.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," she muttered to herself. She peeked through the peephole, seeing a little boy dressed as Batman and a man dressed as Beetlejuice standing in the hall. "Happy Halloween," she said, opening the door.
"Trick or treat!" Batman said, holding out his pillowcase. She smiled down at him before upending the bowl and dumping the last of her candies into his bag.
"There you go, Batman," she said.
"Wow! Thank you!" he said, his eyes wide with delight at the goodies he'd collected. "Danny! Did you see how much candy she gave me?" he asked excitedly. "Did you see? Did you?"
"Yeah, buddy. I saw," Beetlejuice said, and Lindsay's head shot up. She recognized that voice.
"Danny?" she asked. "Danny Messer? Is that you under all that makeup?"
"Hey, Montana! You like?" he said, turning on the spot to give her a good look at his costume.
"Wow, yeah. That's pretty amazing," Lindsay remarked. She had to admit, she was impressed. Danny had never really struck her as the kind of guy that would really get into Halloween, and his costume was quite impressive. Her heart sank just a bit as she realized that it wasn't something he could have done on his own. His girlfriend – what was her name? Sandy? Cindy? Something like that – had probably helped him.
"Doesn't Danny look awesome?" Batman asked, interrupting her thoughts. "Me and my mom helped him. She had to work tonight, and Danny promised to take me Trick-or-Treating. He didn't want to wear a costume, but I made him. We watched Beetlejuice on TV last week and I wanted to be him, but my mom already bought me Batman, so Danny said he would dress up..."
As Batman rattled on about how he and his mom had come up with Danny's costume, Lindsay wracked her brains, trying to remember if Danny had ever mentioned his girlfriend having a kid. She didn't think he'd ever said anything about it – not that he would. It wasn't really any of her business.
"Whoa, Ruben, buddy. Remember to breathe," Danny chuckled. He looked up at Lindsay and smiled. "So, DNA? That's pretty geeky, Monroe."
"Shut up, Messer," Lindsay said, grinning at him. "I'll have you know that I am mutant DNA, which I have on good authority, is pretty cool."
"What's DNA?" Ruben asked, looking up at Danny for an explanation.
"Um… well, it's like blueprints, buddy," Danny said, bending down to Ruben's level. "Everybody has DNA, and it's what makes us all different. It's what tells your body what you're going to look like and how you're going to grow."
"Oh. Just like the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park?"
"Yeah, bud. Just like that."
"Cool!" Ruben said.
"Very cool," Danny said, straightening up and giving Lindsay a wink, causing her to blush.
"Danny. Come on," Ruben said, grabbing Danny's hand as he tried to drag him down the hall. "We've only got half an hour before mom gets home from work, and I need more candy!"
"Okay, okay," Danny said, rolling his eyes at his young companion. "Jeez Louise, Ruben. Just gimme a sec, alright?" Ruben crossed his arms over his chest, tapping his foot on the floor as he glared up at Danny. "Tell you what, buddy. You can go Trick-or-Treat at that door there, and I'll say goodbye to Lindsay. Then we'll go on to the next floor together, alright?"
"Sweet!" Ruben said, dashing off down the hall and knocking on Lindsay's neighbour's door.
"He's cute," Lindsay said, a smile on her face as she watched Ruben hold out his pillowcase for the next batch of candies.
"Yeah. He's pretty awesome," Danny said. "Him and his mom live across the hall from me. His dad's not around, and I think he kind of misses having someone to do, you know, guy stuff with. So I look after him when Rikki's working late, and sometimes on weekends we'll just hang out, play baseball in the park. That kind of thing."
"Oh," Lindsay said. "So… he's not… I mean, his mom and you…" she felt her cheeks burning as she stumbled over her words.
"What? Me and Rikki?" Danny asked. "Nah. She's a nice girl, and Ruben is an amazing kid, but they're just friends."
"Oh. And what about… um… Sandy?"
Danny looked confused for a moment, then realization hit him. "Oh, you mean Cindy?" he asked. He shook his head, giving an exaggerated shudder. "Over and done," he said.
"Oh. That's too bad." Lindsay hoped that he didn't hear the relief in her voice, that he couldn't tell that deep down inside, she was doing celebratory cartwheels.
"Yeah. Not really," he said, giving her a little grin. He was about to say more, when Batman bounded back up to him, shoving his pillowcase in Danny's face.
"Look what I got, Danny! Danny, look! Look!"
"Yeah, buddy. I'm looking!" Danny said. "Wow, that's a lot of loot you got there. What do you say we call it a night? We can hit a few places on our way back home, and then you can show your mom all the stuff you got, okay?"
"Can I have some of it now, Danny? Can I?"
"Well… I don't know," Danny said. "We should really look through your candy before you eat any of it, make sure it's all okay. Besides, I don't think your mom would be happy with me if I dropped you off at home all hopped up on sugar."
"Please, Danny? Please? Just one piece?"
Danny sighed, looking to Lindsay for some help.
"Hey, you know what? Hang on a second. I might be able to help." She turned and headed back into her apartment, emerging a moment later holding the tiny Kit Kat bar she had been about to eat herself before Batman and Beetlejuice had come knocking at her door. "Here," she said, handing the treat to Ruben. "I know for a fact that this is a good one."
"Thanks!" Ruben said. He paused and looked up at Danny before unwrapping the chocolate.
"Go ahead," Danny said, patting Ruben on the top of the head. He turned to Lindsay and offered a smile. "Thanks, Montana."
"No problem," she said, grinning as Ruben stuffed the candy into his mouth. "You two have fun, and maybe I'll see you again sometime, okay Ruben?"
"Mmm hmm," he said, his mouth full of chocolate.
She smiled as Danny turned, taking Ruben's hand in his and the two of them walked down the hall toward the elevator. She was about to close the door, when she heard Danny calling out to her.
"Hey, Montana!"
"Yeah?" she asked.
"What are you doing later?"
"Um… nothing."
"Well, I'm just gonna drop Ruben off at home, and I thought… well, if you're not busy… maybe you might wanna watch a movie or something?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"I don't know," he said. "Something scary. I was thinking Jaws? You like that movie?"
"Oh, my God! I love that movie!" Lindsay said.
"Yeah? Great," Danny said, a wide smile on his face. "So… I'll see you back here in an hour?" he asked hopefully. "Unless… unless you wanna come with us? We can watch it back at my place."
"That would be great, Danny," she said. "Just let me grab my coat."
Leaving the door ajar, she went back into her apartment, grabbing her coat from the hall closet and stuffing her feet into her shoes. As she flicked off the lights and grabbed her keys, she heard Ruben's voice out in the hall.
"Woo-oo! Danny's going on a date!"
"Shh! I am not!"
"Are too!" Ruben sing-songed. "You like her!"
"Quiet, squirt, or I'm gonna have to confiscate all your candy."
"I think she likes you too," was Ruben's reply. "And what does confiscate mean?"
"Shh!"
With butterflies fluttering in her stomach, Lindsay pulled her door closed behind her, locking the deadbolt before she turned to see Batman and Beetlejuice holding the elevator for her. She smiled at Danny and gave Ruben a little wink as she stepped in beside them, pressing the button for the ground floor.
So, I'm thinking that this might be yet another two-parter, but I'm not sure. I'd love to hear back from you! Let me know… do you want more?