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The halloween party that you had been invited to had started off harmless.
The decorations of fake cobwebs thrown on to bushes outside and hanging from the ceiling inside. Plastic skeletons that were practically dangling from the light fixtures. Along with all the fog that was coming from the machine. Making the entire room look like one of those low budget, B-rated horror movies.
You had even managed to get Leon into a costume of his own. It wasn’t anything elaborate, his normal clothes and boots. That leather jacket, and combat boot combo made Leon look like he was in an action movie so you rolled with it. You had gone out and bought the cheapest vampire mask and thrusted into his chest. “At least pretend to have fun for me.” You had begged him. He rolled his eyes at you, but did as you asked which made you giggle with glee.
Then someone was screaming, not the funny kind where someone has scared someone else around a corner. It was the kind of scream that made the entire house party go deadly silent from fear.
Leon on the other hand was the only person who wasn’t frozen with fear. Instead he was moving before you could understand what in fact was happening around you. His hand catching your arm, pulling you away from the large crowd of people. All while the large crowd all decided at once that going for the exit was the best course of action.
“Leon?” You called out his name, all he did was look over his shoulder. “Stay close, and with me.” The music had stopped, and somewhere near the back of the house there was the sound of glass shattering.
More screams started to echo through the house. You watched as Leon glanced over towards the doors, and then his face hardened. The relaxation that was once there was gone. Instead replaced by an intense, focused sort of calm that you had grown to know all to well.
“It’s a biohazard containment failure.” He said quickly, and quietly. You felt your stomach drop into your ass, “Are you fucking kidding?” You asked with wide eyes, “God I wish I was.” He mumbled.
Something started to slam into the front doors. Maybe other party-goers or people from the outside. From there people started to get loud, a mixture of screaming and shouting. “Come on.” Leon said his hold on your hand only getting tighter.
Leon guided you effortlessly through a side hallway that had been transformed into a small storage room. The door behind you shut with a loud bang just as something on the opposite side of the wall crashed down violently.
Leon was quick to grab something from around, a mental shelving in front of the door. Keep you and him safe from whatever was going on the other side. You stared at him, breathing hard and heavy. “Is that even gonna hold, Leon?” you asked still trying to catch your breath.
Leon sighed, “For a while, hopefully.” You shook your head, “That isn’t reassuring.” Leon shrugged his shoulders, “It’s not supposed to be reassuring.” Despite the running, the shouting, and screaming outside the storage room you almost laughed.
Leon looked over at you just for a half of a second before his mouth was twitching. With what you weren’t sure of just yet. “There.” He said quietly, “You’re still smiling.” You couldn’t help the smile that grew all by itself. “I’m terrified, Leon.”
He nodded, “Yeah I noticed.” With that he turned and started to search the small storage unit for supplies. Literally anything, throwing boxes on the shelves open and opening drawers to find anything useful.
Leon returned back to you, “Do you have any injuries?” He asked, you shook your head ‘no’, “What about did you get bitten?” Your brows pinched together, searching internally for the feeling. “No.” Leon let out a sigh of relief. “What about any scratches?” Again you shook your head ‘no’. Leon finally nodded and put down the supplies in satisfaction.
You looked back at him. “You?” You questioned, “I’m fine.” You narrowed your eyes at Leon, he had away of trying to cover up if things were bad by simply ignoring them until you pried them out of him. “Leon.” You said sharply. “I’m fine, promise.” Leon said calmly.
You stepped closer regardless and started to examine his arms with an intense look on your face. Searching for scratch marks, or bite marks. Leon let out a sigh of resignation and allowed it anyways. “Most people would have just take my word for it, you know.” He mumbled letting you continue your inspection.
“Well first off I’m not like most people, and secondly most other people aren’t trapped in a storage closet with you in a middle of a biohazard outbreak.” You smirk, Leon rolled his eyes, “Fair.” He said quietly, probably mostly to himself but you heard it regardless.
Far outside, there was the sound of something being scraped on the hallway floor. You moved closer to Leon on a basic instinct, one that said Leon was your protector. Leon noticed and without a single word uttered in the room he shifted just until his shoulder was pressed up tight agasint your own.
You leaned in further now, not needing a single word to uttered to know that Leon had no plan on moving. You stayed like this for a long moment, several minutes passing where neither one of you spoke a single word. The only things that could be heard were the far off sounds of distant alarms, the muffled impacts, the sounds of shouting and screaming still happening all around you both. Along with Leo'n’s steady, calm under pressure breathing.
Eventually, in the darkness of the supply closet you whispered. “This really isn’t how I thought spending Halloween was going to go.” Leon smirks but you can’t see it in the darkness. “Me, neither.” He said quietly.
“You were supposed to be buying me a drink by now.” You mumbled, his brows shot up and for a moment he considered what he should say. “You know I can still do that.” He finally replied. You looked up at him in the darkness, “After we survive?” You teased, “Yeah, after we survive.” Leon echoed back to you.
His voice was so calm, and matter of fact that you couldn’t help but smile once more. “What?” He asked as he looked down at you with a tilt of his head. “Nothing.” He raised a brow, “You’ve got that look.” He told you.
You rolled your eyes at him, “What look are you talkin’ about? You can’t even see me.” Leon shook his head, “The one where you’re about to say somethin’ sarcastic.” He told you, “I was going to say… that you’re very calm for someone who is trapped in a dark closet during the middle of a zombie outbreak.”
“You mean a storage room.” You rolled your eyes at him “Whatever it is called.” You huffed, he shook his head. Then another impact, this time hitting the door. You flinched next to Leon, and he was quick to wrap his arm around you, pulling you directly into his chest. “Easy.” He murmured, you could feel his heartbeat, beating agasint his chest.
“Are you okay?” He asked looking down at you, “Yeah, I’m good.” You answered with a shaky voice, except Leon didn’t let go of you. “Good.” He murmured. The two of you stayed there like that, listening to the sounds as they slowly started to fade away.
It was only then that you felt Leon rest his chin onto the top of your head. “You know.” You started. “For someone who claims to not like halloween, you are surpassingly good at making this predicament memorable.”
"I’m going to take that as a compliment.” He whispered, you could feel his jaw moving onto of your head as he spoke. “It wasn’t, meant to be.” You teased, “Still takin’ it that way.” You laughed quietly into his chest. His arms growing tighter around you.
And just like that for the first time since the screaming, and alarm bells had started going off you felt entirely, and utterly safe. Not because the building was safe, which it very much wasn’t, not because the outbreak was going to be contained which it would take longer to do so.
It was because Leon was right there, with you in the thick of it. You could feel that he wasn’t planning on every letting you go, especially not tonight.