October 30th

Skye thought it would be best to reduce the time she spent with Levi, but it was pretty hard to go through with that as they had four class periods together. When it came to after school though, it was all smooth sailing, but she simply couldn't keep her mouth shut around Levi forever.

Flash forward to Halloween being just a day away, Levi had hopes to fix things between them by inviting Skye to go trick or treating with him and his little brother. The two were currently working on a big end of the marking period project for English due in less than two weeks, so Skye had no choice but to work with him as they were partnered together.

Skye tried to keep things serious, refusing to crack a smile whenever Levi said something stupid, although almost everything he said was stupid. But despite that, they managed to work together as Skye pushed her feelings from the dance two weeks ago aside, and today Levi would make sure things would go back to normal completely.

With the class period close to being over, the students hurriedly saved their documents on their laptops and packed their things, which Levi had yet to do as he was trying to add one last thing. "Quick, don't forget to save the PowerPoint. I got the essay saved and closed already."

"How much time is left?" Levi asked as he was typing.

"Five minutes," Skye replied, looking down at her phone to check the time. If Levi was going to get this whole asking thing over with, he had no choice but to stop himself and shut down his laptop.

After making sure everything was saved, Levi closed his laptop and put it away, zipping up his backpack and putting his arms through the straps. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something before we go."

"Is it school-related?" She questioned.

"No, it's Halloween related." He said. Now, Skye loved Halloween, and it would definitely be different this year, so she couldn't help but be intrigued, which she most likely would curse at herself over later.

"I suppose I'll listen," Skye replied.

"Uh, I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out on Halloween?" Levi asked. "I have to take my little brother trick or treating and everyone else cares more about partying, so."

Skye had no idea Levi had a brother. Actually, she didn't know much about his family at all. To be fair she had yet to meet them, so this was quite a surprise to hear that there was a mini Levi. "You have a brother?"

"Yeah, he's five." He chuckled.

"And you want me to go with you?" She raised an eyebrow. Surely Levi could go by himself with just him and his brother, but that's not what he wanted, he wanted to hang out with Skye, and he wanted so badly.

"Well, yeah." Levi shrugged.

Her heart said yes, but her mind said no. Skye couldn't forget no matter how much she wanted to, and she figured using school as an excuse would work. "I don't know, man. We still have a lot of work to do on the Macbeth project. I mean-"

"Come on, when's the last time you went out on Halloween?" Levi interrupted her. "I know we're too old to trick or treat, but it's for my brother."

God, he was so right. Skye hadn't been trick or treating since eighth grade, then once high school hit, she and Nikki would hand out candy for the kids and have a sleepover depending on what day of the week it was. She had never been to any sort of Halloween party or just a high school party in general, so it was either force herself to go with Levi and his brother or stay home with her dad, and Levi was shockingly the better option.

"Levi-"

"Please?" He pouted.

It was impossible to say no to a face like that, and since she loved Halloween, it was even harder to let Levi down. "Do I get to dress up or am I too old for that?"

"You can show up in a potato sack and I wouldn't care," Levi said, which was true. "I just really want to have someone that's not a little kid with me, and I'd rather it be you than one of the Three Stooges."

"Well, I guess." She rolled her eyes, trying to act cool.

"Oh, thank you-" he said as the bell rang.

"No need." Skye cut him off. "I have to get to calculus now."

"Oh, right. Bye." Levi replied, then followed Skye on her way out and watched her go in the direction towards calculus, then turned so he could go history. This definitely boosted his mood, and now he couldn't wait to count the minutes until tomorrow. He was very much deprived of his Skye time.

•••

Dear Future Me,

It appears that I couldn't fully keep myself away from Levi for long. Before you kill me, I do it for the children. Levi has a little brother whose name I do not know, and I think he deserves to have someone else around because it must suck to have Levi as a brother. Brutal of me, I know, but I'm being harsh towards myself for even agreeing to go.

I love Halloween, I do, but this has gotta be better than being alone with dad, right? What seventeen almost eighteen year old wants to hang out with their dad on Halloween? Not me, that's for sure.

Damn, I just realized I have to think of a costume. I can probably just look through my closet and pray I can put something together. I have more clothes than I know what to do with, although a lot of them most likely don't even fit me anyway. Note to self: look into donating them.

I should probably stop wasting my time now. I have to do my weekend homework if I'm going to have fun tomorrow, and I know I'm going to want to sleep in all day on Sunday, so I better get a move on.

Sincerely,

Past Me.

•••

October 31st

After being dropped off by her dad, Skye knocked on the door of the Daniels household, praying Levi wasn't tricking her with the wrong address. His house looked a million times better than hers, and considering this was just Wintersville, it felt out of place compared to the other houses in town.

Thankfully, Levi answered the door, notably with no costume, and looked in shock upon seeing Skye's costume. "Jinkies, Skye."

"You like it?" She asked. Yes, Skye was dressed up as Velma from Scooby Doo. Out of all the costumes she was able to do, this was her best bet as she had everything needed to pull off the costume, even including a pair of glasses (which didn't have a prescription on them).

"You're too pretty to be Velma. I see you more as a Daphne." He shrugged, which made Skye baffled.

"Are you calling Velma ugly?" Skye questioned in disgust.

"Not exactly." Levi chuckled a little.

"Hey, Velma's hot too!" She pouted.

"Yeah, yeah, hold on." He said, then called out for his little brother. "Lenny!"

"Lenny? Your parents named him after Lenny Kravitz?" Skye raised an eyebrow. While that would be insanely cool, Levi's parents weren't cool enough to think of the name like that.

"No, my parents named him Leonard after the dude from The Big Bang Theory. Lenny is just a nickname." Levi replied.

"What the hell-"

Little Lenny ran to the front door, wrapping his arms around Levi's leg as he was a total giant compared to his baby brother. Levi looked down to see Lenny in his costume, noticed he was looking up at Skye as she was a total stranger to him. "Hey, dude! Exposing your superhero identity, huh?"

"Mhm." Lenny nodded.

Completely oblivious of how adorable he looked, Skye was in complete awe of the younger Daniels, who was dressed as the famous Spider-Man, which she recognized instantly. "Oh my god, he's Spider-Man."

"Hi." He waved. Skye could easily melt right now and Lenny wouldn't have a clue as to why.

"Hi." She waved back, crouching down so she could meet at the same height as him.

Skye stood up as her knees were hurting from crouching, then let Levi properly introduce her to Lenny, who just wanted to go trick or treating already. "Lenny, this is my good friend Skye. You gotta behave for her tonight, okay?"

"Can we get candy now?" Lenny asked and looked up to Levi. See?

"Aw." Skye cooed.

"I'll go grab my keys." Levi chuckled, then walked away, leaving it to just Skye and Lenny.

"Levi said he likes you a lot." The young Daniels blurted, which took Skye by surprise. To be fair, he's just a little kid, so Skye couldn't go crazy with that information in front of him.

"Did he?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I wasn't supposed to tell you that," Lenny whispered, making Skye giggle.

"Let's keep it between us, okay?" She whispered back, extending her pinky for a pinky promise.

"Okay." He said, then the two did their pinky promise just in time for Levi's return. He only heard the last part, so thankfully he didn't know that his little brother was a snitch.

"Keep what between who?" Levi asked, then they looked to see him standing there.

"It's a secret between me and Lenny, Levi." Skye jokingly sassed. "Back off."

"Yeah, back off." Lenny grinned, letting out a little snicker as he thought it was hilarious.

"Well then." He chuckled. "Let's get going, shall we?"

Levi went to grab Lenny's hand, but then he argued that he wanted to hold Skye's hand instead, and she immediately agreed to it and grabbed the little boy's hand as she couldn't believe he was putting his trust in her so quickly. Levi didn't bother arguing on it and walked behind them as they walked down each house in their neighborhood, collecting all kinds of candy for Lenny.

He watched in awe as Skye looked to be having fun walking Lenny around, and it made him think that she would make an amazing mother. Crazy to think that as a seventeen-year-old with no plans to marry anytime soon, but still, Levi adored the way she was around his brother. Plus, Lenny seemed to be having the time of his life, which he knew wouldn't have happened if he didn't convince Skye to come with him tonight. She had more of an impact than the thought, that's for sure.

"Look, look! It's a big Hershey bar!" Lenny exclaimed to Skye.

"Heck yeah, it is!" She replied, making sure she wasn't cursing in front of him.

"Let's split it." He offered. Little fun fact; Lenny never shared his food, let alone candy, so Levi was pretty shocked to see this happen.

"Woah, you're sharing with Skye?" Levi questioned.

"Yeah, she's my best friend now," Lenny said.

"I'm his best friend." Skye gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Man, that kid was just way too cute.

"Hey, don't go stealing my bestie, Lenny." Levi jokingly threatened, although Lenny obviously took it seriously.

"Too late, loser." He replied, and continued walking with Skye.

"Yeah, loser." She joined in, but mouthed "I'm just kidding", which Levi obviously knew. Skye just simply couldn't be mad at him for too long.

•••

It seemed that a night with Lenny magically eased the tension between Levi and Skye, but when Levi walked with Skye up to her front door after dropping her off, all the awkwardness from before seemed to blow up in this faces once more. Despite that, Skye tried her best to express her gratitude for the fun night she had.

"I had fun tonight." She said. "Your brother is adorable."

"Am I not adorable too? Ouch." Levi joked.

"Come on, I'm telling you I actually had fun with you." Skye rolled her eyes. No jokes, no lies, no fib, none of that. Skye was grateful for the push to go out, and it was shockingly the best Halloween she's had in a long time. Weird that her times with Levi turn into the best in a long time without even trying, right?

"Right, right." He chuckled. "I had fun too. I always have fun with you."

"Awe, thanks." She blushed.

Levi paused, not wanting what he was going to say to come off the wrong way. He was just getting things back to normal, but he had to say this. "I'm... I'm glad things are all good between us."

"Huh?" Skye furrowed her eyebrows, not even realizing what he meant, which was good meaning that Levi didn't screw it up.

"Nothing. Just seemed like things were off for a bit." He shrugged.

Now Skye knew what he meant. It was about time she apologized, but it's better to do it two weeks after the fact than never. "Yeah, that's my fault, to be honest. Seeing you dance with Nikki was kind of a lot to handle."

"I would've preferred dancing with you instead," Levi said, referring to the awkward slow dance with Nikki. Maybe things would've been better and Skye was able to be in her place. No, no maybe, things definitely would've been better.

But Skye didn't understand. She could only think of their little dance competition from the beginning of the night, which was obviously not what Levi was talking about. "But we did dance, remember? The Cupid shuffle!"

"That's not-" Before Levi could finish what he was going to say, the two heard the front door creak, and Skye turned around to see her dad still in his costume, which was a murderer. How thrilling.

"Hi, Mr. Simmons." Levi awkwardly waved, scared out of his mind as he knew her dad most likely knew what happened.

"Where's your costume?" Scott asked.

"I-I didn't wear one." He stuttered.

"Levi was just making sure I made it home okay," Skye interjected, seeing as her dad did say he wouldn't hesitate to beat him up.

"Well, I sure hope so. I'd kill him." Scott said, casually holding a knife in his hand (although it was fake).

"Is that?" Levi pointed, feeling sweat roll down his forehead.

"It's a prop knife, relax!" Her dad replied, letting out a cackle that made Levi scared shitless.

"Okay... I gotta get back in the car. Can't keep my brother waiting." He nervously chuckled. "I'll see you Monday?"

"Of course." Skye grinned. It was great to finally get back of the groove of things.

"Uh, well, goodnight, you two," Levi said.

"Goodnight." She replied.

"Thanks for bringing her home safe." Her dad added.

"Never a problem. See ya." He waved, then Skye waved back as she watched him walk away, her dad standing right behind her. Once Levi got in the car, he made sure Lenny was still buckled in his seat, then the two waved out the window before Levi drove off.

Skye walked into the house, letting her dad shut the door behind them, but now he just had to know. Scott was pretty shocked to hear that she would be hanging out with him, but he let her make her own decisions, and clearly, she made the right one. "So?"

"Things are okay now," Skye said.

But of course in her dad's eyes, they were not fully okay. "No, they're not, that boy never makes a move! Damn! Does it look like I created a troll?"

"Dad, what the heck!" She exclaimed, shocked that he would even say that to her. "I don't want him to make a move!"

"You don't?" He questioned.

"Yeah..." Skye sighed. "I'm fine with just being friends."

"As the kids say, sounds like a lie, but go off," Scott said. God, how embarrassing. Nobody should ever let people that old say teen lingo whether it was outdated or not.

Skye didn't want to bear another second of that conversation, so she just walked away from it, even though her dad wasn't finished talking. "This is too embarrassing. Goodnight."

"Wait, I need help taking off my makeup!" He exclaimed as Skye walked up the stairs.

"Figure it out yourself!" She yelled.

"Pfft, I'll just watch a damn YouTube tutorial." Scott cursed to himself, then pulled out his phone (that he hardly knew how to use) in hopes to find the answers he needed.

Now that everything was okay for Skye and Levi, they could go back to the happy times. Skye didn't want to admit how unbearable it was being so cold to Levi, but imagine how Levi was feeling. The poor guy was suffering, but now he didn't have to suffer anymore. Levi had Skye back, and that was all that mattered.

•••

MARIA TALKS!

yay things are okay 😌

anyways we're four chapters away from the end of act one?? omg?? shoutout to those who've stuck by for this long

next chapter will be another tiny time skip, but it's not anything major. i'm just trying to make things roll as smoothly as possible.

see ya next time xx