"I mean, I figured you'd have been here some time ago." You shrugged and moseyed around the perfectly manicured backyard.

The grass had died away for the year some time ago but it still looked pristine, at least compared to what you were used to seeing this time of year. But you were more trying to look away from Cracker than anything else. Your costumes really did match and his was more than you expected. The shirt he wore was fitted, hugging his frame all too well. The front was half open, showing off his broad chest. He should have been cold but he didn't shiver in the slightest with the cold breeze that blew through.

He had some kind of black leggings on with a kilt of sorts that matched your outfits design and colors. His boots were just a larger version of yours with much smaller heels. A rediculously large, fake sword hung from his hip, mirroring yours. The worst part of it all was you really liked how you matched. It was one of those cheesy couple things you secretly enjoyed.

"I got caught up taking Nami to her other party."

"It doesn't take hours to drop someone off." You snapped, suddenly angry.

Or maybe not so suddenly. Cracker's sisters were right, you were pissed that he took so long, that he put this other woman before you.

"That's what I thought but her friends don't live around here. She forgot to mention that until I was taking her to them. It ended up being a long drive and I promised I would take her to them so I felt obligated to do so."

"And you couldn't text me about it? Not even a quick heads up so I wouldn't be wondering if you decided to flake out on your own family's party?"

"I was driving (Y/n)! I was trying to be a responsible adult!"

"You know what? Fine, whatever, I'll drop it. I'm not in the mood to argue." You turned on your heel to head back inside, back to the warmth and happy people.

"(Y/n) I know you're still mad, you can't just walk away from this." He let out a resigned sigh as he took a couple long strides, catching up and twisting you back around to face him. "Look, I'm sorry, it wasn't supposed to take ages, she never suggested her friends were so far away. I told her I'd prefer a heads up for something like that next time and she said she'd be better about it."

"You're seriously going to go out with her again?" You scowled at him. It seemed like she had managed to turn him into her personal taxi service and he was still willing to see her. You'd never been jealous before but you sure were now.

"I figured I'd give her another shot. And if things work out with the next date, I think I'll be able to let you off the hook with this and start having her see the family instead."

There was no hiding it. Your face fell and you felt absolutely heartbroken. He didn't talk about her unless you asked and when he did, he didn't even sound like he really liked her romantically. She didn't feel special to him and hearing that she might be really replacing you was crushing. She didn't feel right for him but who would you be to tell him that?

"What?" Cracker's face scrunched up in confusion. "What'd I say?"

"Nothing." You shook your head and pushed away from him. "I think I'm ready to go home, I'll see you later."

"Hold on!" Cracker tried to follow you inside but part of his family had migrated back to the kitchen, maybe in hopes of hearing bits of your conversation.

You wove through the people easily while he struggled to make his way through, stopped by aggravated siblings that assumed he'd chased you away. He hadn't, not intentionally at least. You just didn't trust yourself to control your emotions around his family for the rest of the night.

Everyone's eyes were on you two but you didn't look back as you headed straight for the front door. If you turned around, they'd see the beginnings of tears on your eyes and that's the last thing you wanted. It was already bad enough hearing that some woman Cracker hardly knew was going to take your place. Even if "your place" was just as a place holder.

You headed straight for your car as soon as you left the house, not even checking to see if the front door had latched closed behind you. The house was full of people, someone was bound to fix it if it wasn't.

The ride home was a challenging one. You did your best to not cry so you could see the road through the dark. It didn't help that your phone was blowing up, compliments of Cracker you assumed. As soon as the screen would go dark, it'd light up with a message or call, illuminating the car from its spot in the cupholder until it was too much to handle. You tossed it face down into the passenger seat, dimming the constant bright light enough to tolerate.

When you got home and to the safety of your bed, you finally let your emotions take hold. It was one thing to know your current spot in Cracker's life was temporary and it was another to face that fact.

----

"You seem pretty down today honey." Your dad went between watching the road and stealing glances in your direction. "Really out of it actually. What's on your mind?"

"Hmm? Oh." You tore your eyes from the window and gave him a slight smile. "Just had a rough day yesterday and I've been thinking it over."

The time it took to make yourself presentable was rediculous but you'd gotten ready to meet your dad for lunch pretty well considering how long you'd cried your eyes out the night before. Cracker had eventually stopped trying to reach you and you fought the urge to read through his messages. Through much effort, you'd managed to ignore them. You needed time to think things over, figure out what to tell Cracker about your reaction and come to the conclusion that you never had a chance with him.

So for the day, you were just trying to sort things out. Spending time with your dad was supposed to clear your mind, help you figure out what to say when the time came, but right now you were stewing in what had happened.

"Did you want to talk about it?" Your dad offered.

"It's nothing important, boy stuff I guess." You chuckled tiredly.

"Boy stuff." He winced. "So a man break your heart? I have to say, us men aren't all that tactful."

You shook your head, taking the hint to keep talking. "I can't tell which one of us is more stupid; me for thinking I had a chance or him for not seeing how much I care."

"I can't speak much about other relationships but in mine, I was wrong. Very wrong. And what I learned from it was an age old thing; communication. I messed up with it, never talked to you or your mom, but I know you can do right by your own relationships, better than me at least. If he's not seeing what you do, you outta talk to him. Make him understand what you do, tell him what's going through your head. I promise you, you won't have to think about everything so hard after giving it to him straight."

"I dunno if I can do that." You felt a frown begin to tug at the corners of your mouth and the all too familiar sting of threatening tears. "He has no clue how I feel about him and if I tell him and he doesn't feel the same, who's to say he doesn't try to cut me out of his life completely? I'd rather keep what we have now than risk losing it all."

"Sweetie," Your dad sighed, shaking his head. "this is exactly what screwed me up. You're afraid, I get that. I was too, except I let my fear win. Nothing will tear you up faster than missing out on chances you refused to take. Don't go assuming he's going to hate you, give it a shot and if the worst happens, I'll be here for you, me and all those friends you tell me about."

You let a noisy breath out and smiled. "I'm going to have to think on that. For now, can we talk about something else?"

The timing was perfect. He pulled into a parking spot at a restaurant you'd never been to and when you'd gone in and had food in front of you, you talked about anything and everything that came to mind.  In all the times you'd talked so far, you still hadn't told him all the stories that he'd missed out on while he was out of your life. It was getting easier to forgive him for being gone, enough so that you suggested spending Thanksgiving together, just the two of you.

It was refreshing getting to make plans with someone else, someone who wasn't going to stress you out. And above that, you were excited to have a real holiday, with real family. It'd be the first one you'd have in years and you planned on making it special.

You'd apologize to Cracker and his family later for running out like you did and for not being able to make it to whatever they were going to do for Thanksgiving. But you weren't even sure if you'd need to apologize for the second part. From the sounds of it, you probably wouldn't be needed for it. As much as that hurt, you felt it was the truth. Nami would take your place there and you'd get to spend the day with your dad. You guessed in that way, everyone wins in the end.

Cracker would get his real girlfriend, you'd get back to some semblance of a family, and soon enough, you'd be making enough money to pay rent on your own without any problems. Katakuri had dropped a few hints here and there about setting you up with an early raise as you've been doing great at work. That meant you wouldn't have to be a bother for Cracker.

Honestly, if you were his girlfriend, you wouldn't want him paying for some other woman's rent. This way, he wouldn't feel obligated to help you make ends meet anymore and you wouldn't be ruining his brand new relationship.

You weren't sure if you'd ever talk to him about how you felt but it was something you'd think about like you said. As things were now, you might be too late for that and if that were the case, you'd at least get to have things turn to a more normal friendship. That'd be better than nothing and you'd take it if it was all you could get with him.

The funny thing about everything was, you wanted the game to stop. You wanted to quit pretending to be something you weren't. When Cracker suggested it, your reaction made you realize that while you wanted it to end, this wasn't what you had in mind. Subconsciously, you were hoping he'd decide to make you more permanent.

If you were really lucky and found to courage to talk to him, that might happen. But you weren't going to get your hopes up.

(A/n)
I've been watching a lot of netflix lately and it's been great. It's also the reason I'm writing a bit slower. It's spooky season and I wanna watch my spooky shows damnit