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Reggie Peters came over to his house for the first time on October 1, 1987, and Luke Patterson couldn’t have been prouder to introduce his mom to his new best friend. The two stood at the Patterson’s kitchen counter while Emily brought the sugar cookies out of the oven, their mouths absolutely watering. The cookies had little ghosts on them, which made them even cooler than normal cookies. Halloween was, apparently, Reggie’s favorite, as Luke learned when they paired up to present a poster on a holiday of their choice and Reggie practically begged him to choose Halloween. As if Luke would ever choose a different holiday- the only day possibly cooler than Halloween was Arbor Day (it was an entire day dedicated to trees! How was that not the coolest ever?!). Luke had been super excited to bring his new friend over to have some of his mother’s famous ghost sugar cookies and plan what they were going to be for Halloween.
“These are gonna be so good!” Luke squealed, jumping up and down in his seat. He practically leaned over the entire counter to breathe in the delicious cookie smell. “Mmmmm!”
“Careful, Luke,” his mom warned. “These are hot. Reggie, I hope sugar cookie flavor is okay?”
“Sugar cookies are the best!” Reggie proclaimed. He paused to think about it. “Okay no, chocolate chip will always be the best, sugar cookie is a super close second. Oh- and my grandma’s oatmeal cookies. They’re like all basically tied.”
Luke scrunched up his nose.
“Dude, there’s no world where oatmeal cookies are as good as chocolate chip.”
“There is too a world! It’s called my grandma’s house!”
“I bet your grandma makes lovely oatmeal cookies, Reggie,” his mom told his friend kindly. Shaking his head, Luke secretly decided he didn’t care how good of a baker Reggie’s grandma was, it was just not possible for oatmeal cookies to be good. “Did you boys decide what you’re going to be for Halloween? I don’t know if Luke’s told you, Reggie, but this is a pretty good Trick-or-Treating neighborhood if you’d like to join us."
“Of course he’s joining us!” Luke decided for his friend. Reggie lived by the beach, which sounded like the coolest ever, but you couldn’t trick-or-treat at the beach. That just sounded wrong. “I’m already working on the trick-or-treating map! This is gonna be awesome! We gotta be something totally cool!”
And just like that, Luke forgot all about any cookies, a thousand costume ideas running through his head instead. He bounced in his seat, so excited to tell his mom his ideas that he couldn’t even get his words out straight, but Reggie shrugged and said:
“I’ll probably just be a ghost again.”
“No bro, we’ve gotta be something way cooler than a lame-o ghost!” Luke encouraged him. “We gotta be like…like pirates or something!”
Reggie’s eyes went big as saucers.
“Can I have a sword?!”
Luke clasped both of his shoulders.
“Of course you can have a sword!” Luke declared. Reggie squealed with excitement, both of them wiggling in their seats, almost too excited to stay and eat cookies they were so ready to work on their costumes. Almost.
“Oh oh ohhhhhhhhh! IDEA!” Reggie exclaimed. They both froze in anticipation. His mom was clearly trying very hard to not laugh. “Ghost pirates!”
“No ghosts!” He whined. Then he stopped. “Unless we were…ghost rockstars. Rockstar ghosts! We could be like…like…undead zombie ghost rockstars!”
Luke jumped up so fast, he knocked down the barstool and began rocking his best air guitar solo. His mom…didn’t seem as excited about the zombie ghost rockstar idea, but Reggie quickly clambered down from his seat.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Reggie cried, jumping up and down with Luke. “What if…what if?!!! Undead zombie ghost rockstar pirates!”
The two of them froze at the same time. It was literally the best idea Luke had ever heard.
“That’s literally the best idea I’ve ever heard!” Luke exclaimed. “We could have swords and cool zombie make up!” He looked to his mom as he kept bouncing with excitement. “You can do makeup, right mom? Right? Pleaseeeeeeeeee!”
His mom spent actual hours doing makeup- like every single day. Sometimes he thought she looked kind of like a clown. If she could do clown makeup, she could do zombie makeup too, right?
“Pleaseeeeeeeeee!” Luke cried again, grabbing the edge of the counter to help him jump up and down even higher.
“Okay, okay!” His mom sighed, shaking her head. “Just…careful with the counter. You two will have to show me what undead zombie ghost rockstars are supposed to look like.”
“YAY!” Luke squealed. He pointed excitedly at Reggie. “Reggie can draw it for you! He’s a great drawerer!”
Reggie blushed at the compliment, going nearly as red as the turtle neck he wore. His mother seemed impressed at his friend’s talents; she smiled to herself as she began to plate all of the cookies into a big pile.
“That sounds nice. Reggie, I’d love it if you could draw me a picture of the costume.”
“O-okay,” Reggie replied shyly. “Do you have crayons?”
Luke already had so many ideas, he didn’t even know where to begin. He also had the super cool art kit his grandma got him for his birthday, which was going to be perfect for a whole day of drawing costume ideas.
“Bro, do we have crayons?!” Luke mocked teasingly. “Of course we have freaking crayons!"
“Luke!”
“Freaking is not a bad word!” He whined. But his mother gave him that mom look, and he sighed and mumbled: “Sorry. Can we go draw now? Please?”
Squeezing Reggie’s hand again, Luke began to pull his friend back toward his room, more than ready to get started on their Halloween costumes.
“Luke!” His mom called again.
“Whaaaaaaaaattttt?” This time though, his mom just rolled her eyes and pointed at the plate of cookies they had left behind. Luke blushed. “Oh, right.”
He and Reggie both grabbed handfuls of ghost cookies to take with them back to his room. As far as Luke was concerned, Halloween had officially begun. Luke already had a the best costume idea and a new best friend. This was going to be the best Halloween ever.
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"
Luke and Alex watched as their best friend sang as he strung Halloween-themed fairy lights from the rafters.
“It is way too early for this,” Alex mumbled.
“Bro, it’s his favorite time of year. Just let him have it,” Luke encouraged him.
“It’s September 13!”
“Exactly!” Reggie cried. He poofed down to stand in front of them, wearing his red flannel and a big, goofy smile. “I’m already behind! This is our first Halloween as ghosts, I’ve got to take full advantage of the season.”
“Here we go,” Alex groaned.
Luke nudged him in the side, hard, glaring at him. He had always loved Reggie’s love of Halloween. Ever since they were kids, Reggie got excited about this season like clockwork. Usually, by August they had their costumes worked out- always something homemade. Always something ridiculously cool. By September, they had their trick-or-treating maps worked out. Once they had the band, they had their Halloween gigs booked, but Reggie would still head out early to take his brother trick-or-treating (even when Stevie was way too old for trick-or-treating, Reggie still went himself, claiming ‘my little brother is at home sick! He had to miss his favorite holiday!’ It was a brilliant trick, honestly).
They all really should have known Reggie would go all-out for his first ghost Halloween…and go all-out, Reggie did. The haunted studio was turned into, well, a true haunted studio. Reggie had made a clean sweep of all the best Halloween shops, littering the studio with every decoration known to man, like they were a room in the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. There were fake cobwebs everywhere on the walls, a huge super creepy grandfather clock (he had no idea where Reggie got it or how, and Luke wasn’t sure he wanted to know). Haybales now set outside the studio doors, complete with scarecrows.
“I have to admit, bro, this place looks pretty rad. Julie’s going to love it,” Luke gushed, making Reggie turn nearly as red as his flannel at the compliment. Reggie always blushed at his compliments, and it made Luke feel all fluttery inside.
“Is she?” Alex challenged. He had already forgotten what they were talking about. Luke was too busy watching in fascination as Reggie poofed around the studio, perfecting all of his décor. Reggie was so adorable when he got super excited about something; no matter what it was, Luke always felt excited on his behalf.
Outside, a car door slammed shut, and Reggie’s eyes lit up. “She’s here! Places everyone!”
Alex blinked. “Places?”
“For the big scare! It’s our first big scare of the season, it has to be perfect!
“Your face is a big scare,” Alex mumbled.
“Hey!” Reggie whined. “I have a cute face. Tell him, Luke.”
This time Luke blushed, unable to deny the fact that Reggie, in fact, had a very cute face. He stepped up beside his friend, squishing the bassist’s cheeks in as though to prove the point.
“How can you insult this face?” Luke protested. Reggie looked like he wanted to melt to the floor; Luke felt victorious.
“Okay, Julie’s going to be in here any minute,” Reggie whispered. “Hide, for real!”
Biting back a grin, Luke already knew the perfect place to hide with Reggie. His best friend was so excited, there was no way that he wasn’t going to go full-Halloween along with him. There wasn’t always a lot that they had to look forward to as ghosts, and Luke was relieved to see there was something Reggie could still get excited about.
Reggie made the lights magically turn off- some new ghost magic trick he picked up- and he and Luke poofed up to hide in the loft. Alex made a pitiful attempt to ‘hide’ behind the loft staircase. His friend was giggling beside him, like a kid so excited to scare someone he couldn’t stand it, and Luke couldn’t help but to break out into a big smile in the darkness. He reached over for Reggie’s hand, taking advantage of the opportunity to squeeze it. As ghosts, Reggie’s hand didn’t feel as sweaty or callused as it used to, instead it felt soft, silky and cool, making him shiver.
“Hey, I have an idea of what we could be for Halloween,” Luke whispered in the dark.
“Y-yeah?” Reggie whispered back.
Luke grinned.
“Ghost zombie rockstars.”
There was a soft giggle from his best friend, and it felt like fireworks were going off deep inside his soul. It was all he could do to not lean forward right then and there and kiss his lips. Instead, he settled for safe kiss to Reggie’s shoulder.
“Happy Halloween, Reg,” Luke added softly.
“Th-thanks. He could practically see Reggie blushing in the darkness. He loved it. “Happy Halloween.”
From down below, Alex hissed:
“It’s September 13!”
The pumpkin patch date was actually Julie’s idea.
The guys had been back to life (or ‘undead’ as Reggie liked to call it) for a few chaotic, emotional, weeks now, and Luke had wanted to do something for Reggie that felt normal. Apparently, fall was ‘a whole vibe’ now in the 2020s, even though it was still southern California and it was still 75 degrees and sunny. Not exactly cozy sweater weather. That didn’t stop Reggie from fully devoting himself to the idea, once Julie told them all about it. She had thankfully understood when she realized Luke and Reggie definitely had feelings for each other. She was hanging out with Nick more now, even though she kept insisting they weren't dating (yet, he always thought). Nick was more than a bit traumatized after Caleb, and he could imagine Julie's friend appreciated her just hanging around with him and being someone who understood. They were all still way closer than he was sure normal friends were, but they all had a mutual understanding that it was okay they loved and cared for each other so much. But one thing was for certain, Luke love loved Reggie, had proudly told him so, and he wasn't going to waste a moment of the time he finally had to date Reggie.
So, the week before Halloween, their date started with getting something called a pumpkin spiced latte (which made Luke throw up in his mouth) and donuts (which he gladly ate extra of while Reggie drank both of their PSLs...then they turned around to go back so Reggie could get more donuts too). Luke drove him, Reggie and the old van they bought to haul band equipment out to Redlands, where there was supposed to be a huge pumpkin patch. They held hands the entire drive up. Living Reggie’s hand was callused and sweaty again in his, and it made Luke’s heart pound. They both wore their flannel shirts, and while Luke had seen Reggie in his red flannel loads of times, somehow today he thought his boyfriend looked extra-beautiful in it.
At one stoplight, he looked over to see Reggie singing his lungs out to Taylor Swift. His eyes were closed, his hair was getting a bit long and his bangs fell over them, just like they used to- Luke never realized how much he loved that. The bassist exaggerated a country accent as he sang along with some song called ‘You Belong With Me’; his eyes fluttered open on the last verse, meeting Luke’s as he sang the final “You belong with me”. Luke literally thought he might melt right through the passenger seat. They stole a sweet, quick kiss, only broken by someone behind them honking angrily at them. Reggie giggled as Luke flipped off the person out the window and they both kept singing as they drove on.
“Oh wow,” Reggie gasped as they pulled up to the shaded parking lot.
Out here, the leaves had changed colors a bit more, bringing out a nice light red. Reggie wasted no time frantically unbuckling his seatbelt and racing out of the van.
There were pictures at the goofy scarecrow photo-op out front, which quickly became Luke’s new profile pic. There was face painting, where he and Reggie patiently waited in line with all of the kids to get a pumpkin painted on their cheeks. There was a cute little shop, full of jams and caramel and sweets that he had to practically drag Reggie away from, promising he’d buy him the best caramel apple at the end. And there were pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins, everywhere.
Reggie’s jaw dropped when he saw the rows and rows of pumpkins, ready to be picked. Somehow, he had a sneaky feeling that their band-hauling van was about to turn into a pumpkin-hauling van. He kinda couldn’t wait to see the look on Alex’s face later.
“Best Halloween ever!” Reggie declared as he took off.
Luke watched in delight as his boyfriend nearly ran over little kids to get to the biggest pumpkins in the back and began picking out the best ones. With his hands stuffed in the pockets of his flannel, Luke enjoyed the sound of the leaves crunching under the weight of his feet as he ran after his boyfriend.
There was a hayride.
Secretly, if you asked Luke years later, that was his favorite part of the whole day.
They got on the hayride at the end of the day, and at first it was just them until an older couple started to climb on- but the sweet old lady smiled when she saw the young couple ready to ride together and winked at Luke as she told the driver: “We’ll take the next one.”
Luke got a private hayride, with Reggie sitting by his side; his boyfriend quieter than he had been all day.
“You okay?” Luke murmured. He knew how Reggie tended to get cold easy, thanks to his anemia coming back with a vengeance after coming back to life. Reggie nodded sleepily. There was a blanket for them to use, and he didn’t hesitate to pull it over both of them when he saw Reggie shiver, and Reggie didn't hesitate to curl up to Luke and rest his head on his shoulder. The weight felt comforting, and he snaked a hand around to hold his boyfriend closer.
It was just the two of them, the purr of the tractor, and the sweet smell of the trees in the woods nearby, full of their red leaves. Luke always used to say he never felt so alive as he did when he played music, but he was wrong: he had never felt more alive than he did at that moment. Reggie felt so alive in his arms, breathing slowly, clearly sleepy but keeping his eyes peeled open. This was just what they got to do now, being together. Not for an eternity in the afterlife, but a lifetime.
Luke was so happy he could cry.
“Hey, I have an idea what we can be for Halloween this year,” he whispered to his boyfriend.
“Oh yeah?” Reggie replied softly.
“Undead zombie ghost rockstar pirates.”
They both giggled; Luke thought the sound of his boyfriend laughing as he rest against him was the best sound in the world.
"That sounds good," Reggie sleepily breathed. He kissed the top of his boyfriend's head.
“Happy Halloween, baby,” Luke murmured.
A sleepy smile crossed Reggie’s face as he whispered back: “Happy Halloween, Luke.”
A red leaf fell on top of Reggie’s had at that moment, and they both giggled as Luke fished it out of his dark strands. He carefully handed it to Reggie, who held the stem of the fallen leaf like it was his most prized possession. Luke held his boyfriend close, letting Reggie rest against them and as they settled in for a nice, relaxing, hayride.
“Luke?” Reggie piped up a moment later.
“Yeah?”
“We’re still getting caramel apples, right?”
He bit back a laugh. Luke really shouldn’t have been surprised that Reggie was still hooked on doing that.
“Of course we are."
“Good. They’re my favorite.” So was the coffee he tried earlier, the donuts, the candy corn he bought at the gas station, the cheeseburger he had for lunch, and the apple cider they bought after pumpkin picking. But Luke couldn’t say anything. All those were his favorite too.
“This whole day is my favorite,” Luke announced. "I love you, Reggie."
“I love you too, Luke,” Reggie replied, letting out a happy sigh. “Best Halloween ever.”
Luke stole another kiss to the top of his boyfriend’s head and murmured in agreement:
“Best Halloween ever.”