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October 31st at the Ghostbusters Headquarters. A surprisingly quiet day, considering their line of work. A day full of paperwork, equipment updates, and research. The girls decided to call it quits around 4pm to have a Halloween movie night. They only squeezed in two movies (Hocus Pocus and Beetlejuice) before Abby had to leave for her cousin’s Halloween party, and Patty decided to leave around the same time. She was taking her nieces trick-or-treating this year, and she wanted to get her costume ready.
“Well, Amber wanted to be a princess, and Tasha wanted to dress up as a quote ‘Cheese Monster’... so I’m gonna be Diana Ross, since clearly we’ve got a theme going on tonight.”
Holtzmann leaned back and stretched her arms over the back of the couch, “I respect and admire both of your nieces, but Tasha’s costume has me the most intrigued.”
Erin laughed, “Abby, are you dressing up for your party?”
“Yes! I’m going as famed scientist, Rosalind Franklin! She made outstanding contributions to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite! My costume will be very historically accurate.”
Patty just stared, “You are just... so much fun. Let us know if you win the costume contest,” she joked.
“Oh, believe me, I will! No one else’s costume will be as thorough as mine!”
“Oh, I know, baby,” Patty laughed and patted Abby on the shoulder, “I know.”
Abby rolled her eyes and laughed, “So are you guys doing anything for Halloween? Any plans? Parties?”
Erin and Holtzmann glanced at each other, realizing that they’d each had absolutely no Halloween plans whatsoever... were they that lame?
Erin said, “Um, actually no, no plans this year. You, Holtz?”
“Nope! Nothing for Holtzy. I guess Dr. Gilbert and I are just gonna stay here on this couch and continue movie night! Whatdya think, Er? Halloweentown? Nightmare Before Christmas?”
Erin turned red at the thought of spending the night alone on the couch with Holtzmann. She didn’t know why, but being around the blonde, especially one-on-one, made her exponentially nervous. Stuttering, word vomit, sweating, nervous laughter. She’d never acted that way around anybody before. She wondered why Holtz was any different...
But she figured that having an awkward movie night with her friend would be a lot better than spending Halloween alone, “Perfect, I’m in,” Erin blushed, “I’ll, um, make some more popcorn.”
Abby and Patty packed up their things while Erin stood up and grabbed the popcorn bowl.
Patty said, “Okay, you two, don’t have too much fun!”
“You got it, Pattycakes! We’ll just sit here, stone cold, unfeeling, watching as Debbie Reynolds and her grandchildren join forces to save Halloweentown! Just kidding, that’s impossible!” Holtz yelled toward the door.
“Point taken, Holtz.” Abby laughed, as she and Patty made their way out the door, “We’re going now! Byeeeee!”
“Bye guys, have fun!” Erin shouted from the kitchen, as the doors closed.
As Erin walked back into the room with a bowl of freshly popped popcorn, Holtz grabbed a handful and said, “So what do you think? Halloweentown? Or should we keep on with a steady diet of Tim Burton classics?” she stuffed the popcorn in her mouth and muffled out, “Your choice.”
“Y’know, you were talking about Halloweentown, and now I’m really into it. I say we go with that one,” Erin stated.
“Halloweentown it is!!” Holtzmann popped the tape into the VCR, and plopped back down on the couch next to the physicist.
The girls were about an hour into the film, half watching, half talking about memories of watching this movie when they were younger. Erin got a funny fluttering feeling in her stomach whenever Holtz spoke along with the movie. Holtzmann’s gaze was fixed forward, the light of the television reflecting into her eyes. Erin found herself getting lost in those eyes. They mesmerized her, and she realized that she had never noticed just how bright and blue they really are.
Holtz excitedly turned to the physicist, “Oh, this is the part where she gets her broom, I love this part!”
Erin was about to say something when they heard a curious noise.
*DING DONG*
They looked up and around. Holtz paused the movie, “Was that a-“ she looked at Erin, “Do we even have a doorbell??”
*DING DONG*
Erin looked back at Holtz, “I think that answers your question.”
The girls got up to answer the door and were met with a ghost and a zombie. Both very small. Both holding pumpkin shaped buckets.
“Trick or Treeeeat!!!!!!”
Holtz and Erin looked at each other, horrified. It was Halloween, of course there would be trick-or-treaters!
Holtz whispered to the redhead, “Do we have any candy?”
Erin whispered back, “Of course we do Holtz, you keep a stash.”
“You know about that??”
Erin just laughed and ran to the kitchen to grab some candy for the kids.
She came back and overheard from the doorway, “I knooooow! You guys just scared us so much we forgot to have our candy at the ready! And y’know, we actually bust ghosts for a living, so that’s how you know you reeeeeally scared us.”
The ghost giggled, while the zombie said, “I eat braaaaaaainss!!!”
Holtz crouched down and said, “Well y’know what bud, I think we might actually be fresh out of brains. But we’ve got a lot of KitKats! Try next door, though.”
Erin began dumping the candy into their buckets, and said, “Okay! Here ya go, you guys! You have fun! Be safe!”
“Thank youuuuu!”
Holtz was about to close the door when the ghost ran back and said, “Waaaait, wait!” She got really quiet, before she jumped, “BOO!!”
“AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” Erin and Holtz played along, terror on their faces.
Holtz put her hand over her heart, “HOOOO MY GOD!”
Erin gasped, “YOU’RE JUST SO SCARY!!”
The ghost giggled again and ran to catch up with her zombie friend.
They closed the door and walked back to the couch, “Well, that was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Erin said as she fell back into her spot, and grabbed the remote, “You ready to keep watching, Holtz?” She looked up at her blonde friend, who was just staring at her, eyes wide, “....Ummm... Holtzmann?”
Holtz spoke slowly and softly, “I have the greatest idea in the whole world...”
“And what’s that?” Erin smiled, slyly.
“You and I should go trick-or-treating!!”
“Holtzmann, we’re grown adults,” Erin laughed.
“So??”
“Soooo, don’t you think people would notice if two grown women were out trick-or-treating without, oh, I don’t know, children??”
“That’s what’s beautiful about it, my sweet, sweet Erin! You and I are both incredibly short!” Erin laughed at that fact, “We just throw on some costumes, pretend we’re teenagers and we get candy! Boom! Nobody will be able to tell!”
Erin entertained the engineer, “Aaaaand where exactly are we going to get costumes at...” she checked her watch, “7:30 pm on Halloween night?”
“I’m like 99.9% sure there’s a Halloween Adventure, like, 2 blocks from here. Those things stay open until Thanksgiving.” Holtzmann said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Erin imagined what it would be like running around in the dark, dressed in costume, getting candy with Jillian Holtzmann. She didn’t really have a lot of normal Halloweens as a kid, considering that she had no real friends to go out with. Also, her ghost really liked to come out and play that particular night, so this might be a good opportunity to see how it should have been.
Erin sighed. Even if the thought of getting caught made her panic inside, seeing just how excited Holtz was for this made her give in almost immediately, “Okay.”
“It doesn’t have to be all night, we could just— wait... seriously, are you serious??”
“Yeah... I mean, it actually kinda sounds like it could be fun!” Erin laughed, trying not to let her anxiety get the best of her..
“Oh my god, this is amazing. Okay, we’ll need costumes, bags for our candy, probably flashlights, because we don’t know how dark it could get out there-”
Erin laughed, “Holtz, it’s the city.”
“So? One can never be too prepared, Erin,” Holtz stated, “In fact, I’ll even bring my Swiss Army knife.”
The physicist looked at her friend hesitantly, “Oh, wow, do you really think we’ll need that..?”
Holtzmann said, “Dr. Gilbert, no woman should walk around unarmed. Oh, there’s so much I have to teach you.”
Erin said, “Okay, okay, let’s just hurry and go before it gets any later.”
The two scientists grabbed their bags and made their way out of the firehouse. Holtzmann started running and yelled, “Last one to the Halloween Adventure is a big pile of ectoplasm!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girls made it to the costume store, huffing and puffing, clearly winded, “Man... you’d think with... all the physical... activity we do, we’d... be more... in shape...” Erin said, trying to catch her breath.
Holtz wheezed in return, hands on her knees, “I know... damn...” she side-eyed the redhead, “I win by the way.”
“Oh, nu-uh, I totally got here first!”
“Okay, you win, I can’t argue with that beautiful face.” Holtz winked.
Erin softened and blushed.
Holtz stood up straight and said, “Okay, let’s go hunt for some costumes!” and strutted inside.
Considering it was Halloween night, there wasn’t a huge selection, but just enough to have some viable contenders.
Erin flipped through some of the usuals: witch, mummy, werewolf, “Ooooh, I could be a... sexy nurse? Ugh, never mind,” she laughed.
Holtz looked over and said, “Well that’s not as bad as...” she held up a clear plastic bag containing, amongst other things, a red nose and a rainbow wig, “Sexy Clown!”
“Ooof, no way, put that thing... far, far away from me.” Erin said, cringing.
They laughed and flipped through more doozies, until, “Erin!” Holtzmann gasped, and slapped her friend on the arm, “NO. WAY. Come look at this!”
“Ow! What??” Erin leaned over and saw a bag that contained a tan jumpsuit and an inflatable proton pack that said, “Ghostbuster Costume” in big letters.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”
“I know!! We’re a costume!! Kids can dress up as us! Like, what?!”
“Yeah, that, but also, look what’s on the rack next to it,” Erin cackled, still totally mortified.
She pointed to a bag that contained an inflatable proton pack, a short tan dress, tights, etc.
Holtzmann said, “Ugh, sexy Ghostbuster?? Are they serious???” She picked it up and said, “They couldn’t possibly package up and sell the utter sexiness that we exude! Especially you, Gilbert,” she winked.
Erin felt herself blushing again. Holtz had usually given her compliments like that, but tonight felt different. She seemed to be amping it up a notch, and Erin felt oddly okay with it. She tried not to let it show just how much Holtzmann flustered her, but that proved to be more and more difficult with each passing moment.
She handed the bag to Erin, “I dare you to be this.”
Erin pushed it away, “Ugh, no way! You be the Sexy Ghostbuster!” She laughed.
“I already am,” Holtz winked, “besides, I’ve already got my costume.”
“You do? What is it?”
Holtzmann held up her bag. Erin read it and said, “Vampire? Really?”
“As original as I’d prefer to be, we don’t really have much of a choice at a chain costume store on Halloween night.”
“You’re right,” Erin sighed.
“So, let’s just pick out one for you and go, it’s getting later and later by the second. All the good candy’s gonna be gone.” Holtz was getting visibly antsy.
Erin glanced at the engineer and said, “Y’know Holtz, since we’re adults, we could always just go and buy the candy we want... with our adult money.”
“But Erinnnnnnn, that’s not real Halloween candyyyyyyyy.”
“Okay, okayyyyy,” the redhead laughed.
Holtz suggested, “Just close your eyes, spin around, and point to something, and that’ll be your costume!”
Erin scanned the store suspiciously, “Ugh, I don’t know, that seems a little dangerous in here.”
Holtz gave the physicist puppy dog eyes, and Erin, completely unable to resist, closed her eyes and began spinning in a circle with her index finger extended. She spun, and spun until she finally landed on...
Erin opened her eyes, “Nooooo... Sexy Kitten??”
Holtz said, playfully, “Oooooooh...”
Erin glared at the blonde.
Holtzmann grabbed the costume from the rack and made her way over to the cashier, dragging Erin behind, “It’s Halloween rules, you have to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erin and Holtzmann arrived back at the firehouse to change into their costumes. Holtz sat on the couch in the lab while Erin reluctantly tried on her Sexy Kitten costume.
Erin yelled from the bathroom, “I hate this!!”
“Oh, c’mon, it can’t be that bad!” Holtz yelled back, “Just come out, I bet you look great!”
She heard the bathroom door click open and out walked Erin Gilbert, head to toe in a tight black bodysuit and a headband with cat ears attached. Her hair was fluffed out, and on her face was a cat nose and whiskers, beautifully painted on thanks to the face paint provided.
“This makeup better not give me hives,” Erin said, “The packaging spelled Face Paint with a “Q” somehow.”
“Look at you!!! Ugh, you look SO great!” Holtz stood up and admired her friend, “So great...” she trailed off, still staring at her colleague. This time it was her turn to blush.
Erin looked at her feet and smiled. She cleared her throat and Holtz snapped back to reality, “Um... And you were so nervous! You have to admit, this one’s definitely not as bad as some of the other ones.”
Erin said, “Yeah, you’re right, at least this one covers my whole body.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“Okay, now you have to go put yours on.”
Holtz grabbed her bag and sprinted to the bathroom, “Back in a flash!!”
Erin walked over to the couch, fiddling with her costume, tugging in places, fixing her ears. She sat down and waited for Holtz. She thought about how Holtz reacted to her costume. Had she really looked that good? There was no way, Holtz was probably just humoring her. But then again, Holtz did seem to get pretty lost in her thoughts for a moment. Erin started to blush. In fact, her blush count for the day must have been some sort of record. Holtz’s compliments had made her feel really good. Like, really good...
Before Erin could let her mind wander too far, Holtz had walked out of the bathroom and was now standing before her.
Holtz was dressed in a floor length black dress and matching black cape. Her blonde hair fell loose and danced over her shoulders, her face was visibly more pale, and she had a line of fake blood running from her dark red lips.
Erin grew warm. She didn’t know what she was feeling, but she knew it was a lot, “Oh my god...” she said quietly, gazing at the beauty before her. She stood up and walked towards the blonde. She had never seen Holtz like this, she was always dressed so practically. Erin definitely admired Holtzmann’s original style, but this was just... so new.
Holtz twirled around and played with her cape, “Thoughts?”
“Wow,” Erin continued gazing, “You look... so amazing,” Erin cleared her throat. She felt as if she was short circuiting, “I’ve, um, never seen you in a dress before.”
Holtzmann said, “I actually didn’t think it was gonna be a dress, but apparently the price sticker covered up the “ess” in “Vampir-ess”. But it’s cool, I’m diggin’ this look, too. Oh, and you haven’t seen the best part!”
Erin said, “What’s the best part?”
Holtz hissed at her, revealing two solitary fangs.
“Ooooh, very spooky. Those don’t look like the cheap ones that came with the costume though,” she pointed out.
“Oh, they’re not. I just had these ones lying around.”
Erin laughed and said, “Of course, you did.”
Holtz winked and asked, “So, do we have everything we need? Costumes?”
“Check!” Erin supplied.
“Candy bags?”
“Check!”
“Flashlights and Swiss Army knife??”
“Check, Check!”
“Are we ready to get some candy???”
Erin was actually excited at this point, and yelled, “Yeah!!”
“I said are we ready to get some candyyyy?!?!”
“YEAH!!”
“LET’S FREAKIN’ GO, GILBERT!” Holtz grabbed Erin by the hand and they ran out of the firehouse and into the streets, prepared to have the Halloween of their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked a couple blocks and made their way to the outskirts of a nearby suburb, passing child after child, all who’ve had way too many sweets.
Holtz elbowed Erin and nodded towards a particularly hyper kid dressed as an astronaut, “Look. That’s gonna be us soon.”
Erin laughed and said, “I can’t wait.”
“Okay,” Holtzmann said as they reached their first house, “we’ve got this. Are you ready?”
Erin’s initial doubts had returned and she looked at the engineer, “I don’t know... are you absolutely sure we can pull this off?”
“Oh yeah. 100%. I mean look, we’ve got low light, our faces are painted, we’re wearing these bangin’ costumes. Trust me, Erin, this is fool proof. I’m a scientist.”
Erin saw in Holtzmann’s eyes that she was beyond excited for this. She took a deep breath, “Okay. I’m ready, let’s go.”
“Yesssss!!”
They walked up to the door and Holtzmann rang the doorbell. The door opened and a little old lady stood before them and said, “Well, hello there!”
The girls said in unison, Erin at normal volume, Holtzmann yelling, “Trick or treat!”
“Don’t you two girls look lovely, what costumes do we have here?”
Erin said, nervously, “Um, I’m a cat.”
“I’m a vampire,” Holtzmann smiled.
“Wonderful! Very creative! Here you go,” she dropped some candy into the girls’ bags and said, “Happy Halloween young ladies! Be safe out there!”
“Thank you!” “Happy Halloween!” They said, and they turned around and walked back toward the street.
Holtzmann yelled, “Oh my GOD!”
“That was actually really fun!” Erin laughed.
“We got candyyyyyy!!” Holtz danced around her friend, “We got candy! We got candaaay!”
Erin smiled at the engineer and said, “Next house??”
Holtzmann pointed onward, “Next hoooouse!!!”
From house to house, Erin couldn’t believe how much fun she was having. She had only been trick-or-treating a handful of times when she was a kid, although her parents weren’t exactly the most fun to go out with. But Holtz was the perfect trick-or-treat partner. She was excited for everything. Nothing was too childish, nothing was too weird, everything was carefree and fun with Holtz. Every once in a while, Erin caught a glimpse of Holtzmann and her big beautiful smile, and all her fears and insecurities seemed to melt away.
They stopped at a bunch of different houses throughout the night and got candy from many nice people. They saw a lot of cute kids, and some were even dressed as Ghostbusters! It was safe to say they were both having the time of their lives.
About an hour into their excursion, they reached what looked to be the home of a pretty wild Halloween party. They went and knocked on the door, and when it opened, they were met with a drunk twenty-something guy who yelled, “Hey, Mark!! More baaaabes!!” which was returned with a “Wooooo!” that was muffled by the loud bass.
Holtz spoke above the music, “Um, our bad, we actually have the wrong house.”
The girls went to turn around and leave, when the drunk guy yelled, “Nonsense!!” as he grabbed Erin by the arm and pulled her inside, “I’m sure a lady sooo beautiful as you-self,” he slurred, “wouldn’t mind accompanyyyying me to get a refresh-en-ing beverage?”
Erin struggled to break free from his grip, as they moved deeper into the sea of drunk people, “Um, I’m good actually, I’d just like to get back to my friend, now.”
“C’monnnn, we’re havin’ funnn! And besides, you look waaaay too hot in that costume to waste it on a night with your friend,” he said, as he poured them both some wild alcoholic concoction.
He handed a red cup to Erin, who took it and sat it back down on the table, “Look, I don’t want a drink. I want to find my friend and I want to leave, okay?”
The guy chugged his drink, and wrapped his arms around Erin’s waist, “Ohhhhh, c’mon now, kitty... I jussss wanna make you purrrrrr...” he said, as he leaned in and tried to kiss her.
Erin could smell the hours worth of alcohol on his breath, and yelled, “Ugh, get off of me!!” as she pushed him away.
She felt the guy push her back, noticeably offended, when another hand yanked her in a different direction. Erin couldn’t see where she was going, and the strobe lights were making it even more difficult, but before she knew it, the front door slammed and she was outside again, being hugged by a vampire.
“Oh my god, are you okay??? Did that guy hurt you?! I’m so sorry, Erin, I am so sorry!” Holtzmann, on the verge of tears, visibly guilty for letting anything happen to her friend, hugged her tighter,
“No, no, I’m fine, trust me. I’m just pissed.” Erin reassured. And it’s true, she was fuming, “Within 45 seconds he tried to get me drunk and he tried to kiss me. Like, what kind of asshole does that?”
“Apparently the ‘drunken frat boy’ kind of asshole,” Holtz rolled her eyes, and pointed up at the Greek letters on the front wall of the house, “Makes more sense now that we know we just tried to trick-or-treat at a frat house. I’m still sorry. That wasn’t supposed to happen. We can stop for the night, if you want to.”
“Actually...” Erin thought to herself for a moment, “I have a really good idea, if you’re up for it.”
“Oh, I’m up for anything, you know that,” Holtzmann winked.
Erin smiled and said, “Perfect, follow me,” as she took her friends’ hand and led her down the street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erin led the two into a corner bodega and Holtz said, “Um, Er-bear, if you needed snacks, I think we have two full bags of perfectly good snacks right here.” She patted their bags.
Erin led her to the back of the store, “We’re not here for snacks, silly,”
And then Holtzmann saw what Erin meant, “Oh, Dr. Gilbert, you beautiful, devious little genius!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They arrived back in front of the frat house and Erin said, “Okay, are you ready??”
“Oh hell yeah, fuck these guys,” Holtzmann said grabbing some ammo.
“Okay. One...”
“Two...”
“Three!”
They both yelled, “Throw!!”
The two girls began chucking eggs at the house. They had come prepared with three cartons, and they were brimming with anger and ready for revenge.
Holtz yelled, “That’s what you get for,” she threw another egg, “trying to assault my friend,” and another, “you asshole!!!”
Erin threw some eggs at the front door and yelled, “Yeah, fuck you!!”
“And fuck Mark!!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, across the street, Patty was holding the hands of her nieces, and stopped when she heard, “Take that!”
“Yeah, and that!”
Patty, witnessing a cat and a vampire egging a frat house, sighed and said, “Girls, don’t ever grow up to be like that. That’s what bad kids look like.”
They continued walking as Patty mumbled to herself, “Damn teenagers.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hoooo! Are you out of eggs?”
Erin looked down, “Yeah, you?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here before someone sees us.” Holtz said as she led them across the street, when, “Ahhhhhh!” She said, pulling Erin behind a building.
Erin was yanked so hard she almost dropped her candy, “Ow! Holtz, what the hell? You almost made me—”
“Shhhh!” She covered the redhead’s mouth, and Erin was thankful that they were in a dark alley, so Holtzmann couldn’t see the blush spreading across her face.
“Umm, what exactly are we hiding from?” Erin whispered.
“Diana Ross, a princess, and a cheese monster.”
“What??” Erin went to look, before Holtz pushed her back up against the wall, which sent curious shivers down Erin’s spine.
“Diana Ross, a princess, and a cheese monster! It’s Patty and her nieces!” Holtzmann whisper shouted.
“Nooooooo!” Erin whisper shouted in return.
“Yes, and they’re walking this way! Ugh, this is a dead-end street, we still have to pass by them to get back to the firehouse.” Holtz said, looking around for an escape route.
“Damn, you’re right... I mean, should we just wait here in this... creepy...” Erin studied their location, “dark... alleyway...?”
“Wait, I have an idea,” Holtz closed her eyes, grabbed Erin’s hands and whispered, “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!”
Erin leaned back against the brick wall and stared at the blonde.
Holtzmann blinked, “I really hoped that would work.” Erin started to giggle, and Holtz eyed her and said, “You shush.”
Erin kept laughing and mumbled, “God if she sees us, we’ll never live this down.”
“Tell me about it. She’ll tell Abby, and the two of them never let anythinnnng go. We’ll be known as the vampire and the cat for months, and that’s if we’re lucky,” Holtz whispered.
Erin gripped her bag of candy tightly, “That’s it, I say we make a break for it. Let’s just run.”
Erin took Holtzmann by the hand and they ran down the street and covered their faces until they reached the end of the block. When they stopped, Holtzmann leaned all of her weight on the stop sign and said, “Okay... I think we’re safe... man... we really need to stop running tonight,” She panted.
“Agreed...” the physicist huffed back, “Do you think she noticed us?” she checked to see if the coast was clear.
“No, we’re good. If she had, we would know. It’s Patty, she can be louder than me sometimes.” Holtz reassured, “Hey, these bags are getting pretty full. You wanna go home? We could finish movie night and binge on our candyyyy??” She held out her arm.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to end the night.” Erin smiled and linked her arm with Holtz’s as they walked down the street and back towards the firehouse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erin and Holtz returned home, dropped their bags of candy on the floor and promptly plopped onto the couch.
“God, I need to get out of this costume. I just reaaaally don’t want to put my other clothes back on,” Erin joked.
“I have some pajamas upstairs, do you wanna borrow some?” offered Holtzmann.
“You keep pajamas here?”
“Well, they’re not really pajamas as much as they are really comfy clothes. I keep some stuff here for when I’m pulling an all nighter and I’m too tired to go back to my apartment.”
“That’s smart, I should start doing that... Well, I’d love to borrow some, that’s really nice of you Holtz.” Erin said, feeling nervous about the thought of wearing Holtzmann’s clothes. It made her feel tingly in a way that was foreign to her.
“Awesome! I’ll go change, and then I’ll bring down some stuff for you,” Holtz said, hopping off the couch and making for the stairs, “be right back! Pick a movie while I’m gone!!”
“Okaaaay!” Erin yelled.
She walked over to the tv and looked through the stack of VHS tapes and DVD’s they had all brought from home. She spent a few minutes searching through the stack before she eventually landed on Edward Scissorhands. Not a Halloween movie per se, but it was perfectly weird and spooky enough to round out the night.
Holtzmann slid down the fire pole, some extra clothes under her arm, “Okay Gilbert, what do we have?”
Erin held up the DVD and Holtz said, “Oooooh, lovely choice. But just be warned, I cry at the end every single time.”
Erin giggled, “It’s okay. I do, too.”
She took notice of Holtz’s outfit. She had quickly changed from sexy vampire, back to her comfortable self in a matter of 5 minutes. She donned an X-Files sweatshirt, and a pair of black shorts covered in rainbows. Her socks had little cats on them. And her hair was still down. Erin was appreciative of that. It was a sight she so rarely got to see. And she was loving it.
“Here’s some clothes. They’re the softest I have, I hope they’ll be comfortable enough,” Holtz said as she handed the clothes to Erin.
“Thanks Holtz, I’m sure they’ll be perfect,” Erin smiled, and headed for the staircase, “I’ll be back in a sec!”
“Okay, I’ll put our candy into bowls, and I’ll get some other snacks ready,” Holtz danced into the kitchen.
Erin closed the bathroom door behind her and looked in the mirror. She actually did think she looked pretty good in her costume after all, but she was very ready to take it off. She looked at what Holtz had given her to wear and she was thoroughly pleased. It was an oversized black t-shirt that had a picture of the atomic symbols for Gallium and Yttrium, which, creatively, spelled out the word GaY. It made Erin chuckle to herself. The shirt paired nicely with a pair of soft, red flannel pajama bottoms.
Erin felt cozy and warm. The smell of the engineers’ clothes was comforting to her, somehow. The scent of vanilla with a hint motor oil mixed together to create a wonderful scent that was so perfectly Holtz, and Erin loved it. Holtzmann’s clothes felt like a hug, and she never wanted to be let go. She didn’t know how to identify what she was feeling, even if it was as plain as the shirt she was wearing, but she knew she was feeling something.
She made her way back down the stairs, only to reach the bottom to find Holtzmann in the kitchen preparing snacks and dancing to the Monster Mash. Seeing the blonde hop around without a care, singing along to the silly song, made Erin’s heart absolutely swell.
She secretly watched as her friend poured some popcorn in a big bowl and sang, “They did the mash! They did the Monster Mash!” and that was it.
Erin knew what she had been feeling. She knew right then and there. Holtzmann and her blonde curls were bouncing around the kitchen with such spirit, and Erin couldn’t take her eyes off her. Seeing her so comfortable in her own skin, so bubbly and beautiful, was enough to make the physicist finally realize....
She was in love.
She didn’t know what to do with this new information, but she was glad that she had it. She doesn’t think she has ever felt this way about another person. Love. She took comfort in being able to identify her feelings, but now that she had, she was clueless as to what to do next.
Just when she came to this realization, Holtz had turned around, “Oh hey, Er-bear! Was I right? Are you comfy?”
Erin blushed, remembering she was in Holtzmann’s clothes, “Very. Thanks again, Jillian.”
She doesn’t know what possessed her to call Holtz by her first name, but she did notice the blonde visibly stumble at the use of it.
“Um, of course, no problem at all!” Holtzmann looked at her feet and turned red. Erin took note of that, ”So, I figured we might be tired of popcorn, but I made some just in case. I also have chips and ice cream out there, to accompany our massive bowls of candy.”
“Oh man, we are going to have some serious stomach aches tonight,” Erin laughed.
“Worth it,” Holtz chuckled, and offered, “but also, it’s Halloween, so it doesn’t count.”
“You’re right,” Erin said taking a piece of popcorn from the bowl Holtz was holding, “you wanna go watch the movie?”
“Heck yeah, I do!”
The girls sat down on the couch and Holtz popped in the DVD.
“Oh! Hold on!” Holtz hit pause and dashed upstairs to the lab.
Erin waited on the couch confused, when the engineer hurried back downstairs with blankets and pillows in hand, “Oh my god, you keep blankets here too?”
“You bet! I’ve spent too many uncomfortable nights here before I learned my lesson. Comfy clothes, pillows, and blankets. Ya always gotta have em’. So now I keep a stash of comfy stuff up in the lab.”
“You’ve got candy stashes, comfy stashes... any more gems hidden away in this firehouse that I should know about?”
“Oooooh, we’ll seeeeee,” Holtz winked and pressed play on the remote control, and Erin tossed a blanked over the both of them, as they settled into the couch.
Erin spent the first 40 minutes of the movie trapped in her head, her mind racing, her thoughts buzzing. Frazzled. Confused. Excited. Doubtful. She wanted to tell Holtz what she was feeling but she had no idea how to go about it. None at all. She was trying to work up the nerve, but she wasn’t even sure she could do that properly. She just had to stop doubting herself. I just rocked a catsuit. I just egged a house! I have a PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics, for fucks sake, so why on Earth is this so hard??
She picked up the remote and paused the movie.
Holtz looked concerned. She turned toward the physicist and softly said, “Everything okay, Er?”
Erin took a deep breath, “Um... I just wanted to, um... thank you... for convincing me to go out trick-or-treating tonight. I had so much fun, and it... really meant a lot to me...”
It wasn’t a confession of love, but it was a start.
“Of course, Erin. I’m glad you had a good time, that was the goal. Well, that and candy,” Holtz chuckled, before she noticed Erin looking down at her lap, fingers fidgeting, “i-is everything alright?”
“Yeah, it’s just... I’ve never really had a normal Halloween... or, at least, if I did, I don’t remember it at all. Y’know... I didn’t really have a lot of friends. My parents were kind of... well, they meant well, but,” she trailed off, “Abby and I tried to go trick-or-treating once, but some kids from school saw us. They took our candy, ripped up our costumes... continued with the ‘Ghost Girl’ thing, obviously. We wound up just going home after that, but... it really sucked, y’know, we were both so excited...”
“Oh, Erin...” Holtz said softly, hesitating.
“I’m sorry... I-I didn’t tell you any of that because I wanted you to feel bad for me or something... I just really appreciate you, and... tonight...” Erin said.
“No, no, please don’t apologize. I actually... have to confess something...” Holtz looked away.
Erin looked up, “What is it?”
Holtz started, “I did suggest going trick-or-treating because I thought it was a brilliant idea, and that you and I would have a really good time together, but also...” she grew quiet, “I actually have never been trick-or-treating... ever.”
“...Ever?” Erin said, a little shocked. Halloween seemed like the only holiday that had ‘Holtzmann’ written all over it.
“Not once. My parents were always working when I was a kid, and once I was old enough to go by myself, I had no one to go with. I also had no friends in school, if you couldn’t tell by the way I dress, and talk, and act on a day to day basis,” she chuckled quietly, “so I’d kind of just make my own costume each year and sit in my basement and watch Halloween movies. It became a nice little tradition, actually. But still, after every Halloween, the kids at school would bring in all their candy and eat it, and like trade it and stuff... I always wanted in on that, y’know?”
“Yeah, I definitely get that,” Erin said softly.
“I guess our childhoods were pretty similar...” Holtz laughed as Erin smiled, “but, I just want you to know that... I appreciated this just as much as you did. I had a really amazing night, and I’m beyond grateful that my first time trick-or-treating was with you.”
“And I’m grateful that you’re the first person to go trick-or-treating with me since I was 7,” Erin giggled, “I mean, we got to do a lot of stuff tonight! I learned how to egg a house,” she laughed loudly.
Holtz laughed too, “Which was amazing, I can’t believe you thought of that! You’re throwing arm is superb, by the way.”
“Thank you very much,” Erin beamed, “I also learned that I look pretty damn good in a Sexy Kitten costume.”
“You do! What’d I say?! And you didn’t even get hives from the face paint, so it’s a win-win!”
Erin laughed, and then grew quiet for a brief moment, “Um...Holtz?” She paused for a moment, “Jillian...”
Holtz blushed and looked at the physicist.
“Can I call you that..?”
Holtz cooed, sweetly, “Of course you can.”
“I...um... I learned something... else... tonight...” Erin slowed, struggling to find her words.
“What’s that, Erin?” Holtz said, softly.
“I learned... that... the reason I had so much fun tonight was... you.”
Holtz remained quiet, “...Me?”
“Yeah...” Erin said slowly, “I could have gone trick-or-treating with Abby or Patty... but, it wouldn’t have been the same. The reason that I had such a good night was... because of you. You make things... better... you... make me feel happy when I’m not... and... I learned that... I... really, really like you...”
Holtz just gazed at Erin, completely speechless, blue eyes sparkling.
Erin looked down at her lap, “I’m sorry if that was too much, I just- I had so much fun tonight, and I didn’t mean to make things weird or anything, I—”
The physicist was cut off mid sentence by a pair of soft, pink lips crashing against her own. The kiss was brief, but it held the weight of many months worth of love.
Holtz sat back, “I like you too...”
Erin remained very still, as if not wanting to do anything to disturb the moment, “You do?”
“I mean, I thought my flirting was pretty obvious, but I guess I need to amp it up a notch,” Holtz winked.
Erin laughed, “Well, I won’t say no to that, I just always thought,” she paused, “Ugh it’s stupid,” she exhaled.
“Try me.”
“Well... I guess I always thought you just flirted with everyone...so, I didn’t really think that...”
“I do always flirt with everyone,” Holtz beamed, “it comes with my fun, quirky, personality! But you... it was always different with you...”
“Really? Um... if you don’t mind me asking... how come... how come you never...?” She implied.
“I always thought you were straight... I didn’t want to cross any lines. And I really didn’t want to mess up one of the best friendships I’ve had in my life.” Holtz blushed.
“I get that,” Erin chuckled, understandingly. She looked away briefly, her eyes landing on Holtzmann’s bowl of candy, and she practically did a double take, “Oh my god, Holtz, that bowl is half empty!”
“Yeah?”
Erin laughed, “Oh my g- you’re gonna get sick!”
“Hey, I’m making up for 32 missed Halloween’s here! I actually think we should go to the store and get more,” Holtz said, opening a Snickers and chomping into half of it.
The girls laughed and then went quiet for a moment, and Erin said, “Sooo... in about 3 hours time we fooled people into giving us candy, we egged a frat house, we told each other deep childhood confessions,” she laughed, “we revealed our undeniable crushes for one another...It’s only 11ish, but what’s left to do?”
Holtz scooted closer to the redhead, “We couuuuuld keep watching Edward Scissorhands. And then we could stop watching completely and make out,” she winked.
Erin laughed at that and leaned into the engineer.
Holtz continued, wrapping the blanket around the both of them, “...and then we can catch the end and cry because it’s beautiful,” she put her arm around Erin and pulled her close, “...and then I’ll likely get sick from eating all this candy, so I’ll probably need some... beautiful... intelligent...” she twirled Erin’s hair between her fingers, “red-haired physicist to help me feel better...”
Erin stretched and sighed contentedly, leaning her head on Holtzmann’s shoulder, “Would helping you feel better involve cuddling on this couch? Because if so, I am down for that plan,” she yawned.
Holtz reached for the remote and hit play, “As you wish, my... sexy kitten.”
Erin peered up at the blonde, “That’s not a nickname we’re using,” she laughed.
Holtz stole another kiss from the redhead.
“Alriiiiiiiiiight,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Abby and Patty arrived at the firehouse at 9 am the next morning, groggy from their own crazy Halloween nights.
Abby yawned, “Ugh, why did Halloween have to be on a Wednesday?”
“Tell me about it. Those kids got so much candy, they were running around for hours. I love my nieces, but they had me up all night.”
They turned the corner to find their makeshift living room in disarray. Half-filled bowls of candy, popcorn, and other various snacks sitting on every available table. Candy wrappers littering the floor. The television was playing the selection menu for Edward Scissorhands on a continuous loop. And their two friends were on the couch, lying on top of one another, under a mountain of blankets.
They just stared.
Abby finally gestured to her friends and whispered, “Do you think this is a coincidence, or do you think they finally realized that they’re in love with each other?”
Patty whispered back, “I don’t even know, I’m too tired to try and figure that puzzle out. What I do know is I need to get some coffee in my body, stat,” and she turned around and headed to the kitchen.
Abby followed and the two of them chatted about their nights while making some coffee for all four of them.
A few moments later, Erin slowly awoke, as she thought she could hear the tell-tale signs of morning coffee being brewed. She blinked a few times before she realized that she was correct, evidenced by the clanking of mugs and the smell of one of her favorite drinks. Holtz must be making them some coffee, because she’s amazing.
She went to sit up, and she stopped dead as the couch moved underneath her. Erin looked over and saw nothing but a mess of blonde curls, and realized that Holtz was still on the couch with her, sound asleep. She remembered the night before, and all of the wonderful things that occurred.
She moved a few stray hairs out of the engineers face, and simply gazed at her. She thought about how peaceful Holtz looked when she slept- a stark difference from how she was when she was awake. After a moment or two, Erin leaned over and placed a light kiss on Holtzmann’s cheek. She figured they must have fallen asleep during the movie.
Wait. Then who was...?
Erin’s eyes went wide and she gently shook the blonde awake, whispering, “Holtz... Holtzmann.”
Holtz squirmed sleepily, “Mmmmm...”
“Jillian, wake up,” Erin shook the engineer once more.
“Mmmmmmmm...” Holtz slowly opened her eyes. She remembered that she and Erin had fallen asleep together and she smiled, “...morning, cutie,” she leaned up and kissed the redhead.
Erin kissed the engineer back, and then quickly said, “Holtz, I think Abby and Patty are here. They’re in the kitchen making coffee.”
Holtzmann sat up slightly, more alert, “Do you think they saw us?”
“I’m not sure...”
Holtzmann hesitated, “Are we... telling them about us..?”
“Oh, of course! Just... maybe in a week or two?” Erin smiled, “I’m a sucker for sneaking around.”
“Erin Gilbert,” Holtzmann quietly exclaimed, giggling.
Erin laughed softly and rolled her eyes, “Maybe we should just go say hi, very casually, y’know. Everything’s cool. Nothing’s different.”
“Sounds like a plan, gorgeous,” Holtz winked, as they arose from their makeshift bed and walked into the kitchen.
“Morning you two. Abby, how was your cousin’s party?” Erin waved, and Holtz gave a sleepy smile and grabbed a donut.
Abby said, “It was a lot of fun! It was great seeing Steven again and he introduced me to his friend, Laura, from his work, so that was coooool. I didn’t win the costume contest though.”
Patty laughed and said exaggeratedly, “You’re kidding! But, you’re costume was so thorough and historically accurate!”
Abby said, “I know!!” as she playfully smacked her friend on the arm.
Holtz grabbed a cup of coffee for her and one for Erin, and sat down at the kitchen table next to the redhead, “What about you, Pattycakes, how was your night?”
“Oh, my night was lovely,” she joked, “Two crazy 6 year olds running around, hopped up on every candy known to man. I tried to hide it from them, but they’re just too smart. They made me stop at every single house, too.” She sipped her coffee and laughed to herself, “And it was a pretty decent night, but of course, just as we were finishing our walk, we just had to witness some vandalism.”
Abby rolled her eyes, “Ugh, god. Tagging?”
“Nope. Egging.”
Erin practically choked on her coffee. Holtzmann’s eyes widened and she placed a knowing hand on Erin’s knee.
Patty said, “Two teenage girls, one of ‘em was dressed as a vampire,” Holtz’s grip tightened, “and the other one was dressed up as a cat, I think.”
“Oh boy,” Abby laughed.
“Yeah, and they were yellin’ stuff like ‘Fuck you!’ and ‘That’s what you get!’ and, I swear I heard one of ‘em shout ‘You touch my friend again and I’ll punch you in the dick!’”
Holtz couldn’t hold in her laughter, and Erin slapped her arm lightly to keep her quiet.
“There’s always a few rowdy ones.” Abby chuckled and sipped her coffee.
“Tell me about it,” Patty said, “They were eggin’ a frat house though, so it was probably payback for some creep who harassed them. In which case, more power to ‘em.”
Holtz winked at Erin who blushed in return.
Patty then said, “Now if you ladies will excuse me, I’m gonna head up to the bathroom and take a quick shower. I didn’t get to take one this morning and I desperately need to wash last night’s crazy off of me.”
Patty made her way up the stairs, and Abby turned to the other two girls and asked, “So, what about you guys? What did you do last night?”
Holtz sat up straight, “Um, nothing, not much. W-uh, we just, y’know... watched movies... ate some candy, we um... w-watched... movies...”
Erin leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Subtle.”
“Shut up,” Holtz whispered back.
Abby eyed them suspiciously, “Mhmmm...”
“Um, excuse me!” They heard Patty yell as she marched down the stairs holding their costumes from the night before. She walked back into the kitchen, “would any of y’all mind explaining to me why I found a vampire costume and a cat costume sitting on the bathroom sink?”
Erin and Holtz just stared at one another when Holtzmann finally yelled, “Erin, run!!” as she picked up her donut and threw it across the kitchen as a ‘diversion’. Erin burst out laughing, as Holtzmann grabbed hand and they ran out of the room and upstairs to the lab.
Abby shook her head and continued sipping her coffee, while Patty rubbed her temples and let out a deep sigh.
It had been a good moment or two when Abby finally uttered, “Yeah, they’re dating.”