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There comes a point in everyone’s life where they have to come to terms with the dreadful fact that they are too old to go Trick-or-Treating. Kendall had been wrestling with that very thought since the age of twelve when he was the first of the boys to go through a growth spurt over the summer. He towered an entire foot over his friends, and he swears he received several side eyes from the adults as they trekked from house to house.
That never stopped him from going though, Halloween was Carlos’ favorite holiday and Kendall had never learned how to tell him no in all the years he had known him. But there was really no way to cut it, they were just too old to keep up the tradition now. Which left them with one question, what were they supposed to do for the holiday now?
A party was the most obvious answer, but he knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. They were on thin ice at the moment with his mother and Gustavo after their last prank led to the apartment and Roque Records being flooded with goo. If they pushed their luck anymore, they were sure to be grounded for the foreseeable future.
Kendall shifted himself around on the couch till he was perched upside down with his head hanging off the cushion. Maybe the sudden blood rush would bring a brilliant idea to his brain. He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt the cushion beside him sink down, signaling that someone had joined him.
“Still thinking about tonight?” James asked, leaning forward on the cushion to meet Kendall’s eyes.
With a sigh, Kendall pushed himself over till he landed onto the carpet with a satisfying thud and rested his head back on the cushion. “Yeah, I’m supposed to be the leader and I can’t even think of how to spend one night?”
James leaned back into the couch, and Kendall watched as he closed his eyes, seeming to be deep in thought. The silence dragged on between them for what seemed to be an hour before James sat up quickly, giving Kendall a heart attack in the process.
“Okay I got it! What about a horror movie marathon? We could all bring dates of course, and it wouldn’t get out of hand like a party so your mom wouldn’t be mad.” James seemed to get more excited about the idea as he continued on. “ It’s genius because the girls will be so scared from the movies and look to us to protect them. What better way to spend the evening right?”
And yeah in theory that was a fool proof plan, but Kendall felt his stomach drop at the notion. He’d made it through this long in his life without ever having to reveal to his friends that their fearless leader was in fact a chicken when it came to horror films. He wasn’t exactly afraid, but the images of gore were enough to have him hiding his eyes in the pillows.
He mustered up his best attempt at enthusiasm, throwing James a grin as the other boy rushed out of the living room to begin making his plans. Kendall let his head fall to the cushion wishing trick or treating wasn’t off the table anymore.
He couldn’t just say no to the idea, that would raise suspicions. Hell would freeze over before any of them would say no to a night spent with their girlfriends. And if he feigned sick or didn’t invite Jo, he ran the risk of her feeling left out from everyone’s plans.
Hours later, Kendall was still completely out of luck. He was currently sat at the kitchen table munching on the snacks Logan had carefully prepared for tonight. It wasn’t the best idea as Logan was sure to lecture him if he noticed, but Kendall needed to do something to keep his mind off of what was happening in the living room.
James was in the middle of ‘setting the atmosphere’ as he called it. The apartment didn’t have much in the department of spooky decorations, but he tried his best with what he had. He had draped several warm blankets across the couch, and placed carved Jack-o-Lanterns on various surfaces in the room.
On a normal day Kendall would have been impressed with the care his taller friend put into creating a mood, but tonight the added décor just put him more on edge.
If any of the guys had noticed, they didn’t say anything. They all seemed to be too in their heads about preparing for their dates tonight. Carlos was on his ninth trip down the stairs, looking for James' approval of his attire. It was going to be his first date with the Palmwood's horror queen, Stephanie, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
While Kendall didn’t always understand fashion talk, he knew immediately that James wasn’t going to approve of the bright orange blazer and checkered green slacks combo. He shook his head and pushed himself away from the table. Focusing on Carlos’ love life would be the distraction he needed.
He snagged Carlos by the wrist, pulling him back up the stairs before he could make his way to James. When they made it to James and Carlos’ shared bedroom, Carlos fell back onto his mattress with a dramatic sigh. “I don’t see what’s wrong with this. James said I should try and look smart, so I borrowed this jacket from Logan.” He then sat up gesturing to his legs, ”And the ladies in the Roque Records wardrobe department say I look good in green.”
“I think the problem here is that you’re trying to be someone you’re not. You don’t have to dress like James or Logan.” Kendall shuffled through the clothes in Carlos’ closet, or at least the clothes that were still on their hangers. When he found one of his newer hoodies he tossed that over to the shorter boy. “Here, just try and be yourself. If she likes you, then she likes you no matter what.”
Carlos rolled his eyes. “That’s easy for you to say, Jo loves you.”
“And Stephanie will love you too, but only if you act like yourself. So get those weird clothes off and be the Carlos we know and love.” He made his way out of the room to give Carlos some privacy to change, before he stopped at the doorway. “I will give you one tip though, spray that hoodie with a little cologne. I don’t know why but girls love that sort of thing”
Carlos nodded at the advice, before working on removing the blazer and Kendall headed out of the room. That was at least one crisis avoided for the night, if only he could find a way to solve his own.
Downstairs, the living room was drastically different than when he had left it. The lights were dimmed down low, casting eerie shadows on the walls, and the floor was covered in a thick fog. Where James managed to find a fog machine in a few short hours, Kendall had no idea. And he had no time to ask before the doorbell rang signaling the arrival of their dates.
He chose to hang back as Logan raced to answer the door. Even in his tense state, Kendall had to hold back a laugh at his eagerness. Most people wouldn’t notice because Camille was so attention grabbing, but Logan really was just as crazy for her as she was for him. The moment he opened the door he watched as the shorter boy stretched out his arms already prepared to catch his girlfriend when she leapt into his embrace.
Jo didn’t even look twice at the display, used to how affectionate the pair was and instead walked into the room scanning for Kendall. When her eyes finally met his across the room, a wide grin spread across her face and she made her way over.
“Happy Halloween,” She leaned up and placed a quick peck to his cheek, before she turned to view the commotion at the door. Stephanie had stepped into the apartment, arms so full of DVDs that Kendall couldn’t see her behind the pile. Carlos had attempted to help relieve her of some of the burden, but somehow sent the cases flying all across the carpet. The mess didn’t seem to deter either of them though, as they laughed and got to work gathering her collection.
“I think their first date is gonna go well,” Jo murmured into his ear, careful to not let anyone else hear. “She’s so passionate about horror, and Carlos loves this stuff too.”
Kendall nodded in agreement before he took her hand leading her over to the couch. He claimed a spot directly in the corner, hoping it was secluded enough that no one could see if he jumped out of his skin. Jo seemed none the wiser to his inner struggle, leaning her head against his shoulder, relaxing into the couch. They sat together and watched as the rest of their friends made their way to the dimly lit living room.
Camille fell into Logan’s lap dramatically draping her arm across her eyes. “Oh I’m just so terrified of scary movies, if only I had a big strong boyfriend to protect me.” The performance was almost believable if her giggling didn’t immediately give her away. Logan rolled his eyes affectionately before slipping his arms around her and shifting her to more comfortably rest in his lap.
Across the couch, Kendall felt a little jealousy creep into his throat. Not because he wanted to be in either of their positions. He just wished he could be that strong protector for Jo. There was no way Logan would be fazed by any of the gore on screen, on several occasions Kendall had caught him eagerly watching videos of medical surgeries, fascinated by the technique and precision of the surgeons. Kendall had taken one look at the inside of a knee and felt his stomach lurch.
Carlos came barreling over with his arms stuffed with various DVDs, Stepahnie not far behind with arms equally full.
“Alright so we’ve narrowed it down to these two to start with, Night of the Cannibal Corpse or The Slasher’s Revenge: 3. I personally would go with the first one because it’s based on a true story, but Carlos is right, the special effects on Slasher’s Revenge are insane.” She was practically bouncing in place in excitement, something Kendall had seen Carlos do many times before. They might have been a better match than he had thought. “There’s this scene in it where you can literally see the inside of the guy’s skull as it’s split directly in half. It’s wicked!”
Kendall immediately raised his hand, “My vote’s for the first one.” There was no way he was gonna watch a man get his head sawed in half. It wasn’t happening. Whatever was going on in the first film surely had to be more bearable than that.
He watched as the rest of his friends cast their votes, losing hope when he watched one by one as he was outnumbered. Even Jo from her place under his arm, seemed eager to see the gruesome scenes of the second choice.
There was no way to save face now, he was going to have to grin and bear it. The other couples had taken their places on the couch, waiting patiently for the movie to begin and Kendall wondered if it was still too late to fake the stomach flu. He’d almost made a move to get up when he glanced down at his girlfriend. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up with the most loving grin and it glued him right in place. There was no way he could just abandon her like that for a silly fear.
So he smiled back at her, squeezing her shoulder lightly and leaned back against the cushion.
The beginning of the film wasn’t actually so bad, the story line was interesting and Kendall had almost forgotten why he was so afraid in the first place. Almost being the key word. As the music seemed to get more tense, and the characters on screen seemed to panic, he felt panic rise in him as well.
He desperately willed his muscles to relax, but it was hopeless. On screen the maniac was taking a chainsaw down the victim's body, and he jumped with each agonized scream.
He could feel Jo’s eyes on him from the corner of his eye, but kept his eyes focused intently on the screen. If he looked over at her, he’s sure she would see the fear he was trying so desperately to keep under wraps. She seemed to have other plans though as she grabbed his hand tightly pulling him from their place on the couch.
She didn’t stop dragging him along until they had made it to the hallway, far from any eavesdropping on their conversation. Through the front door, Kendall could still hear the screams of torture, but the muffled sounds were far more bearable than the silence coming from his girlfriend. He heard her sigh before she finally turned around to meet his eyes, and fixed him with a sad look.
It wasn’t exactly what he was expecting, maybe embarrassment or annoyance, but not sadness.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were afraid of scary movies?”
His face instantly warmed and he had to look away from her fixed stare. He couldn’t meet her eyes anymore, instead he focused his eyes on the pattern of carpet. Maybe if he stared long enough, it would swallow him whole and he wouldn’t have to have this conversation. “I didn’t want you to know that your boyfriend is a wimp.”
“Kendall,” Her voice was soft, the way it was when it was just the two of them together, “Do you really think that I would care? I don’t need you to be a fearless leader, I just want you. But you can’t even tell me when you’re afraid. Do you not trust me?” Her voice wavers and Kendall can see the way she’s curled in on herself. She’s fidgeting with her bracelets, a nervous habit that he instantly recognizes.
In an instant, he goes from feeling embarrassed to feeling like the worst boyfriend in the world.
“No, that’s- of course I trust you.” He stepped toward her wanting to wrap his arms around her in comfort, but wasn’t sure if she’d accept him. Instead he took his hands and gently turned her head to him, so she could see the sincerity in his face. “I’m sorry, I got all in my head about this. But you’re right, I should be able to tell you anything.”
He watched her as she took in his words, nervously holding his breath. She had every right to be upset, but he couldn’t stand it when he made her feel sad. When she leaned forward and rested her head against his chest, slipping her arms around his torso, he finally felt at ease.
“I forgive you, as long as you come to me when something’s bothering you from now on.”
He didn’t have to hesitate before he quickly said, “Deal.” Sealing the promise with a quick kiss to the top of her head. They stayed like that for a few moments longer before Kendall’s attention was brought back to the sounds of the horror fest still going on behind the apartment door.
He pulled back from their embrace before sheepishly scratching at the back of his neck. “I doubt they are gonna stop any time soon, wanna go on a smoothie run?”
Jo looked over to the door and back to Kendall with a look that he had seen plenty of times before. “Actually, I have an idea.” Without another word, she slipped her hand into Kendall's, dragging him back into the apartment just as she had before, making her way to their group of friends.
She had them stand at the side of the couch, and Carlos moved to pause the movie since it seemed she had something to say. Kendall watched from his spot beside her as she cast her eyes to the floor, biting her lip like she was embarrassed to speak. He guaranteed she was a mirror image of the way he had looked in the hallway, and immediately her plan clicked in his brain.
“I didn’t want to say anything earlier because I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s fun. But it’s- well, movies like this really freak me out.” Kendall wrapped his arm around her shoulder to feign like he was comforting her. “Is there any way we could watch something else instead?”
The group immediately agreed to the change in movies, letting her know that she could have admitted to being scared earlier. She just smiled, and led Kendall over to their place on the couch while Stephanie and Carlos scanned the collection for something a little more toned down.
Kendall sat there and sent out a silent thank you to the universe for gifting him a girlfriend as amazing as her. It felt almost absurd that just a few hours earlier he thought she would be embarrassed by his fear. She was on his team, and always had been. He just needed to learn to lean on her more.
While certain traditions had to end, he found himself looking forward to the new traditions of the future. As long as he had Jo and his friends beside him, it was all going to be okay.