"This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!" I sang early Monday morning for the twelve time.

"Alfred, love, if you sing that song one more time, I will slit your throat and rip out your vocal cords, kay." Britt said sweetly over her plate of butter soaked waffles.

"You will have to fight me for that." Mattie said tiredly from across her. He was eating a big plate of pancakes, like normal. He also got up before eight in the morning, not like normal.

"I'm sorry that I love this holiday and want to sing a song dedicated specifically to my favorite holiday!" I said bitterly as I cooked breakfast.

"Leave Alfie alone." I heard mom say as she ate a sausage. I smiled at her and she smiled warmly back. "So, I'll be at work untill about four. I should be home at about four thirty with dinner. I'll be back in plenty of time to take all you kids to that neighborhood you all like so much."

"Thay give you full sized candy bars!" Britt said excitedly.

"You guys did call Kat and let her know right?" She asked.

"No, she was at work all day yesterday and Ivan said she fell right asleep when she came home. I'll call her in a little bit to let her know where we're going." I explained as I turned off the stove. I sat down at the square table across from mom.

"Okay, just remember to do it." She finished her pancakes.

"I will."

"Hey, mom, can I go to Gilbert's house later?" Mattie asked as he rinsed off his plate.

"Sure thing hunny." She kissed his cheek.

"Thanks mom."

"No problem." She said as she kissed Britt and I. "See you kids later!"

"Bye mom!" We all yelled as she walked out.

"She gets a real kick out of you calling her mom." I told Britt with a big smile.

"I have spent half my life in this house. She has fed me, sheltered me, cared for me, and took me in when my parents had that big fight. That woman is a second mother to me." She said through a full mouth.

"Unfortunately non of your mothers taught you to not talk with your mouth full." Mattie teased.

"You're right, he is sassy this year." Britt said after a small pause.

"Told ya! And you didn't want to believe it." I smirked.

"Who would have ever believed that our precious little angle could be sassy?" She in her baby voice while glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Fair enough." I waved my spoon. "So, what are you gonna do with your friends?"

"We'll just be hanging out. Same stuff as normal." He shurged.

"So you're gonna go get high." I rolled my eyes. "When do you plan on coming home?"

"Before two thirty." He said as he glanced at the clock. It said eight thirty. "I'm not leaving untill ten, we gotta get our chores done first, eh."

"Yea yea. Come on Britt. If you're staying here then you're helping." I said as I finnished eating the last mouth full. "Got any problems with that." I said teasenly.

"I'm just amazed that you managed to eat the giant plate of food before I finished my three waffles." She said actually amazed. "And you started after me!"

"Well, your waffles are two inches thick and have a diameter of about seven inches." Mattie said as he walked back up to our room.

"How does he know that?"

"It was on the side of the box the waffle maker came in. He just likes to show off now and then." I waved my hand. "So, we got any plans for the day?"

"I was thinking that after Mattie leves we could try on some outfits." She said while tapping the table twice. That ment she wanted to see me dressed up in the angle dress.

"Sounds boring." I winked.

"Then we'll have to think of something else. DQ maybe?" She arched a brow. He eye brows weren't thick like Arthur's, but they deffently weren't as thin as most girls. She doesn't pluck them frequently, but also doesn't let them get out of hand.

"That sounds cool. So, what and who are you pranking this year?" I asked her with big grin. Every year she pulls a carfuly constructed prank on one of our friends. They have learned to fear her.

"I was thinking Eyebrows. I got this cream that if you put on hair it will kinda burn it off. Since he is going as a vampire this year I though I would take the opportunity oh so deliciously handed to me to finally did him of those caterpillars." She said with a dark grin.

"You are an evil, evil child." I shook my head. "How can I help?"

"I know that he bought that off brand crap that will ware off after an hour. So when that happens and he starts throwing his little fit you hand the case I will give you. He'll put it on no problem. After two hours he will be brow less... for a month."

"Why do you hate them?"

"It's complicated." She played with her long hair. She grabbed the end and held it up to her face like a mustache and beard. We laughed way harder then we should have at that.

"Come on, we have some chores to do you goof ball." I stood up amd headed to the closet.

"No, you have chores to do that I'm gonna help you with because you give me those puppy dog eyes every time to guilt trip me into helping." In response I gave her said puppy dog eyes. "I swear could charm the devil out of a deal with those eyes."

Our chores consisted of dishes, sweeping, moping, vacuuming, taking out the trash, washing the windows, and our laundry. After about two and a half hours we where done with the chores. Mattie wasted no time running out the door the second we were done. He was running an hour late so I didn't blame him for not even saying good bye. I watch him leave through the window untill I couldn't see him anymore. With a big grin I run up stairs where Britt sat waiting on my bed.

"He's gone." I skiped into the room.

"Finaly. I though he would never leave." She dramatically. She carefully opened the clear package and pulled out the flowy white gown. "I finally get to see you in this. Hurry up and put it on."

I smile as I took the dress into the bathroom. I slip out of all my day cloths except my underwear. I carefully slip the silky dress on, thankful that Britt got one ment for a female with small breast. We learned our lesson from last time when I couldn't keep the top part up. I reach behind me and carefully zipped it up. I straightened and adjusted the dress for a moment befor turning to the full langeth body mirror. I gasped as I saw what the dress looked like on me.

Its slightly poofy, two inch straps hung lightly off my shoulders and where connected to the dress by tiny little diamonds. Fake, obviously. The dresses top fit me snugly and hugged all of my curves nicely. On the chest part where little silver swirls that lined the top and whent down only about four inches. They started at the middle of the dress, then whent out either direction untill they met in the back. At the end of each swirl was a little diamond.

The bottom half of the dress is what had caught my interest the most. It was a simple, yet delicately elegant design. It was three loose layers with the bottom layer being the same silky fabric as the top of the dress. It stoped just above my knees at the front, but whent almost all the way down to my heels in the back. It stopped just three inches above them.

The second layer was a thick vale like material that followed the same pattern as the first, only it started at just a tad bit higher and ended two inches from my heals. The final layer was a thin vale like material that followed the same pattern as the first two and stopped just an inch from my heels. Thin, little trails of silver sparkles led down from the waist to a tiny diamond at the end of the skirt. The skirt part of the dress was very flowy. Their was a lot of thin fabric that flowed delicatly outward every time I moved forward.

I took in my appearance as a whole in the mirror. My golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, tan, yet fair skin, and the beautiful white dress. With the right make up I could be mistaken for a real angle. But what I loved most of all about being in the dress was the feeling of absolute freedom and grace. Like I could just run off into the wind and never look back and look like a goddess while doing it. A big grin broke across my face as I opened the bathroom door to show Britt. When she looked at me her eyes whent wide and her moth fell open.

"Oh Alfie. You look so beautiful." She said standing up. She walked over and looked me up and down. She smiled brightly at me. "You look just like an angle. Absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you!" I said doing a little spin. The dress whent up before gently falling back down when I stopped. My smile sliped a little and she looked at me with concern. "I just wish I could ware stuff like this all the time."

She opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance because from right behind the door I could hear my brothers voice. "Hey, are you guys up here?"

For a brief moment my heart stopped as I felt that I was about to be outed to my brother. Then I whent flying backwards. I landed with a thud on the bathroom floor and heard the door close just as our bedroom door opened. Not wasting a second I hopped in the shower, turned the head to face the wall, and turned the shower on.

"HI MATTIE!" She shouted loudly to mask the fact that the water was not on in the brief second he was walking in to the room.

"Hey Britt, what are you doing up here?" I heard Mattie ask her as I took the dress off and held it close to my body. My heart felt like it was trying beat out of my chest.

"Oh, just talking to Alfred through the wall as he takes a shower. Ain't that right Alfie?" She shouted as she banged on the wall.

"That's right!" I shouted back, my heart still racing.

"What are you doing here? You just left not too long ago and I know Gilbert lives more then just five minutes away. Plus their is no way you smoked a joint in that amount of time." She asked suspiciously.

"I was just on my way there when I got a text from him saying that our little hang out was cancled because Ludwig has Feli over and Feli dragged Lovi over as well. And you all know how Lovi feels about pot." I heard him flop on his bed. I could paracticaly feel Britts eyeroll when he mentions Lovi's dislike for pot. It was the one thing those two could agree on. "So how long has Alfie been in there?"

"Not too long. He should be out any minute though, all he wanted was a quick shower. After wards I call first dibs on the bathroom." I took the hint and ran my hair under the water to make it look like was showering.

"Why don't you use the one down stairs?"

"Becuse I wanna talk to Alfred. Duh." She said like it was the moat obvious thing in the world.

I turned off the shower and placed a dry towel in the tub and put the dress on it to keep it dry. I quickly put my clothes on and walked out of the bathroom. I turned to Mattie and gave him a big grin. "Hey bro!"

"Hey Alfred." He said with a small smile as Britt all but dove into the bathroom. "Your friend is very weird to put off going to the bathroom just to talk with you while you're in the shower."

"Or she actually enjoys my company and talking to me."

"Yea, she's very weird." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyways. "Wanna go watch a movie since you have to stay here with us now?"

"Sure. We can order a couple of pizzas for lunch as well." He said getting up. I followed him out the room and down the stairs.

"Yea, that sounds good. Britt will probably want to pay for them too." I guessed. My heart rate was finally starting to slow down to a normal pace. "So, what movie do you think we should play?"

"Anything other then the Nightmare Before Christmas." He asked. It was the very first one that we put on.

We watched a few different Halloween movies and ate pizza all day. About half way through the first movie I rembered to call Kat to tell her where we where going and when she should expect them to be home by. By the time four forty five rolled around mom had come home with Taco Bell. After eating we started getting ready for trick or treating. Mattie and I were getting dressed in our room while Britt was changing in the bathroom. Any minute now we where expecting Ivan to show up to get ready with us. My heart fluttered just thinking about him.

I looked over to Mattie to see him dressed up as a polar bear. I arched an eye brow at him and he shrugged. I finnished getting ready and knocked on the bathroom door to let Brittany know she can come out now. She comes out with her hair in wild pig tails, a large plastic gun strapped to her back, and a rubber chicken where her baton should be. And on her face was a crazed grin.

"God you're scary." Said Mattie as he took in her outfit.

"Yea, crazy cop. I'm good cop and Ivan is going to be bad cop. I wonder where he is though, he was supposed to be here by now." I wondered out loud.

"I am here." Said a voice from behind me making me jump. I turned to see Ivan standing in the door way with a playful smile on his face.

"Ivan! You scared the crap out of me!" I punched his shoulder lightly.

"Sorry Fredka. I did not mean to startle you. I am here to change in to costume."

"Finally." Britt said as she handed him the bag. "Alfred will help you up here. Come on down when you're ready to go, kay?"

"Da. We will be seeing you in little while." He said as he pulled out his costume. "What is it that you will be helping me with. Costume is easy to put on."

"She probably means with the accessories." I told him as I pulled them out of the grocery bag. "Clip one can be a little tricky, and painful, if you don't know what you're doing."

"It is clip on, how hard can it be?" He asked as he pulled his shirt off to reveal a well muscled chest.

"Boy do I have so YouTube videos to show you." I quickly turned to hide my blush. I busyed myself with organizing and opening the add-ons.

After a few minutes he asked "How do I look?"

"You look good bud! Now lets get these on you."

I picked up a silver slip on earring. It was three little lines connected at on point to make it look like three earrings in one hole. I sliped it on over his left ear. The next one I grabbed was a clip on stud for the left ear. I had to be careful not to pinch his earlobe with it. The final one was a large one that whent over the whole ear and looked like a ladder. It was ment for the right ear.

Next I worked on trying to keep a nose ring on his face. It didn't want to stay untill I bent the metal just enough to force it to stay on. The next pieces where a couple of thin lip rings. They stayed on easily enough and didn't hurt him.

"The only thing your face is missing now is an eyebrow ring." I told him as I started putting the tattoo on his right for arm. "Hey. Off chance, but if your arm starts to become irritated and red under the tattoo, let us know immediately so we can take it off."

"Da. Does that happen often?" He asked as he watched me rub the damp rag across it.

"No, but if you are allergic to it we would want to remove it as soon as possible. Same with the rings. Their might be something on them you could react badly too." I said as I carefully peeled the pics of paper back. It came out perfectly. "Nice. Last addition." I said as I picked up a can of black hair spray.

"What ia that?"

"Black hair spray. It will turn your hair black, like spray paint." I laughed when I saw is face shift to that of concern. "Don't worry, it comes off in the shower and I'm only doing a strip black. Close your eyes. This stuff stings if it gets in them."

"Da, okay." He closed his eyes as I took a thick part of his bangs and colored them. It took a moment, and a brushing, but he was finally done.

"And voila! You're done!" I said excitedly as I dragged him in front if the bathroom mirror. "So what do you think?"

"I look like bad boy. I do not recognize myself." He said with a sly smile. The only thing that through it off was his ever present scarf.

"Yea, you do look like someone else now. Come on! Lets show the others!" I said as I dragged him down stairs by the hand. I pulled him into the living room where everyone else sat waiting. I made a show of pushing him in front of me and pointing to him like I was showing him off. Which, in a sense, I was. "Crazy and brother, I give you: Bad Cop!"

"Wow. You look really different. A good different." Mattie commented as he looked him up and down.

"...You look good." Britt said from where she sat on the couch. "Your hight, tattoo, and the piercings next to Alfred really to give him a good cop look. And him standing next to you only adds to your bad cop look. You're just missing one thing." Britt said standing up. She pick up a dark pair of sunglasses off the table and placed them on his face. "Now give me a meen look."

He twisted his face into a sneer and bunched his eyebrows together in anger. I have to admit, he looks pretty scary. Britt grinned widely and slapped him playfully on the shoulder.

"Big brother, I hardly recognize you." I heard a voice say from the kitchen. I turned to see Natalie standing their in an Alic in wonderland costume. She had a juice box in her hand and my mom standing behind her. "If we get separated how will I find you?" She latched on to his arm like a lamprey on a fish.

"Do not worry. I will keep sunglasses on my head whole night so you can see my face, Da?" He patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about losing us! We'll be in a big crowd, so you'll always be able to find us right away." I tried to reasure her. She glared at me. "Besides, Britt has a habit of counting heads every few houses, so if you go missing we'll know almost right away."

"I am glad you always take such measures to ensure safety." Ivan told us as he gently pried his sister off his arm.

"Yea, we started doing that a few years ago after Feli got separated from us and we didn't notice for ten minutes. Poor boy was so scared. He climbed a tree in that persons yard and refused to come down untill Ludwig climbed up after him. Also, he was crying to whole time." I told his as we grabbed our pillowcases and headed out to the car.

"Problem." Britt said as she locked the door.

"Was up?" I asked her.

"Their are six of us and this car fits five people. We weren't expecting a sixth person." She pointedly looked at Natalie.

"I am sorry, but big sister could not look after her this evening and asked that I take her trick or treating with us." Ivan apologized.

"It's cool dude. Since you're the biggest you sit up front. Britt and I will share a seat. Since Natalie is the smallest she'll have to sit in the middle, and Mattie will sit on the other side." I organized them. "We'll sit behind mom since we'll need more leg room."

"Great, lets go!" Britt said as we packed into the car. She had window since she didn't seam to like Natalie. Not that I blamed her.

It was cramped in the back for the whole hour drive it took us to get to the next town over. It was a much bigger town with a very rich population on one side. We liked to go here because they always give out the most candy, and not just off brand either. We parked in a Wal-Mart parking lot that wasn't too far from the houses. The rest were already waiting for us.

"Hey! What took you so long?" Lovino asked as we pulled out. "And who is she?"

"Hi guys. Traffic sucked on the way here." I greeted them. "And this is Ivans' kid sister, Natalie."

They all said some form of hello to her, wich replied with a glare. Though, this one was much less intense then the ones she gives me, it still scared to scrap out of Feli, who was dressed as a cat. He clung to Ludwig, who was dressed up as a German shepherd. Go figure. Francis was dressed up as some Frenchman. Arthur was a vampire, which reminded me of Britts' little prank. Yao was a panda, which he is every year, and his brother was a kitsun. Antonio was a bull fighter, while Lovino was the bull. Finaly, Gilbert was a Teutonic Knight.

"Come on! Lets go show the world our awesome costumes and get free candy!" Gilbert shouted as he led the way to our favorite path.

"Yea! Come on! Lets go!" I shouted excitedly.

"Ve. Come on Luddy, I want to get some candy!" Feli said as he grabbed onto Ludwigs arm.

"Don't touch my brother, potato bastered." Lovi snapped.

"Come now, Lovi. Don't be like that. Especialy in front of the child." Toni said cheerfully.

"I am not a child! I am 13 years old!" Natalie snapped at him.

As the others start talking and arguing, Britt came up next to me. In a low voice she said, "I don't like that little girl. Their is something off about her. I don't know what it is, but something tells me she is trouble."

"Yea, she is pretty scary, ain't she? But she's Ivans little sister and he trusts her." I whispered back.

"I'm still going to keep an eye on her. Just in case." She pulled back. Louder she said, "Look, the first house!"

For the next hour we ran around the neighbourhood, collecting as much candy as we could from strangers. We cracked jokes and Britt entertained a small group of kids for a little while. They got a real kick out of her beating Arthur with a rubber chicken. The thing even made a fun squeaky noise.

When we walked up to the door Britt, Ivan, and I would all say, "Put your hands up, you are under arrest! Unless you hand over the candy!" Those at the door laughed hard.

Only one old lady gave us any trouble.

"Don't you think your all a little too old to be trick or treating?" She said in a snooty way. Her face was twisted in a dissaproving frown and her hand was in her hip. Like a mother chastising their child for playing in mud.

I was about to respond when Britt beat me too it. "Oh yes, we are plenty older then most who trick or treat, but we figured that the adults would much rather have us trick or treat then spray paint someone's car, or throw eggs at their house, or set their lawn on fire. And I'm sure that they'd much rather have us out here then at some party with alcohol and drugs. But if you insist that we go from candy seeking young adults to hoolagins, I'm sure I have a can of spray paint in the car." She smiled brightly the whole time.

The woman frowned deeper before giving us all a live of candy. We were walking away when I turned to her and asked, "Do you really have a can of spray paint in our car?"

"No, I have five." She smirked.

I was about to reply when I felt something stick itself under my foot cousing me to stumble forward. I lost my balance at the edge of a small pond we were going to avoid and fell forward into the freezing water. The shock of the water knocked the breath out of me as I scrambled to the surface. I broke the surface to find that Brittany and Ivan where reaching out to grab me. They each took an arm and pulled me out of the icy water.

"Alfred! Are you okay?" Brittany asked in a panicked voice.

"I-I'm f-f-fine." I studered out through trembling lips. I was freezing cold!

"Here." Ivan said as he took the jacket part of his uniform off and put it around my shoulders. With shaking hands I wrapped it around tighter.

"T-tha-nks." I looked up to him with a forced smile. From behind him I said I saw Natalie smirking before going back to her normal glare.

"What happened?" Arthur asked.

"I d-don't kn-know. I-i t-think I tr-ipped o-o-over so-omet-t-thing, but I-i d-didn't se-ee any-thi-ing." I studered. I pulled the jacket even tighter as a cold breeze flew past. My teeth started shaking as I sat there shivering.

"Ayia! He needs to get out of the cold and get home!" Yao said as he rubbes my arm to warm it up.

"I'm already calling his mom." Britt said as she dialed the phone.

The jacket had already soaked through by now and was doing next to nothing to keep me warm. My shivering had worsened when I felt someone pull me on their lap and wrap strong, warm arms around me. I didn't question it as I snuggled deeper into that warmth. I watched as Artie took his cape off and used it to replace the soaked jacket.

"Take of both jackets now, you hear.  They're both dripping wet and will only get this wet as well." He said gently as he removed said articles of clothing.

It was then that I noticed who's lap I was on. I looked up and saw that it was Ivans'. I blushed and hopped that it was mistaken for me being so cold. Arthur warped his suprisenly thick cape around me, while Ivan undid his scarce and wrapped it around my neck.

"Your mom is on her way. We need to stay here untill she gets here." Britt said as she put her phone back in her pocket. She dropped a half fill pillowcase next to me. "Good news is you dropped your candy before you fell into the water."

"S-silv-ver l-linings!" I smiled at her.

After about ten minutes of us sitting there with them trying to keep me warm my mom showed up. She slammed on her brakes in front of us and rushed out off the car with the blanket we kept in there. I stood up as she rushed to me.

"My poor baby! What in the world happened?" She cried out as she wrapped the blanket around me.

"I think I tripped over a stick or something." I told her with a small smile. Thankfully I had stopped studering.

"Come on lets get you home." She told me as she walked me to the car. I noticed that the others who came with us started following.

I stopped and turned to them. "You guys keep on trick or treating. I don't want you to miss out because of me."

"Alfred, are you sure? Don't you want us to come home and keep you company?" Mattie asked.

"Yea. All I'm gonna do is go to bed. I doubt you want to keep a sleeping person company when you could be out scoring free candy." I told him as I unwrapped Ivans scarf off my neck. I handed it back to him and gave them all a hug. I hugged Britt longer since this the last time I'll be able to see her for a long time. "Bye crazy."

"See ya latter loser." She giggled.

I waved goodbye to the others and got in the car. Mom cranked up the heat while we drove back home. She kept cooing to me and fussing over me. Even when we got home she made me a warm bowl of soup that I was slowed to take to my room. I finished it slowly and snuggled down into my bed and fell asleep.

I woke up three of hours later to see Mattie trying to sneak his way in to the room. When he noticed that I had woke up a waved shyly. He held up my bag of candy that I hadn't noticed I left behind. I was amazed to see that it was completely full. I grinned at him and snuggled back into bed.

I woke up again in the morning to me mom standing over me. Her hand was resting on my forehead. Every muscle in my body ached and I coughed badly. I was very tired.

"Shh, go back to sleep baby. You're sick." She cooed gently to me. I nodded and fell back asleep.

I woke up again at about noon. This time I felt much better. I stretched my arms and checked my phone. I noticed that Ivan had text me along with the others. All of them saying some form of get well soon. I guess Mattie told them I was sick. Ivans was slightly different though.

*I*
I heard that you are sick. I hope you get better soon.
Natalie admitted to tripping you last night by accident. She said she didn't say anything because she felt ashamed. I hope that you can forgive her.

I stared at the text for a moment before sending it to Britt. I also told her about how I thought I saw her smirking after I fell. I got up and headed to the kitchen to make lunch.

I spent the time thinking about how Ivan had taken off his scarf to give me. He said he never takes it off unless to wash it, it was that special to him. He also pulled me on his lap to keep me warm while we waited for mom. I felt my cheeks go red with another blush. I could no longer deny that I had a crush on him. I have for a while now, I just didn't want to admit it beacuse I barely knew him.

When I sat back down I noticed that she had texted back.

*B*
Watch out for her. She is dangerous.

I stared at my phone for a long while. I wanted to trust her because she was Ivans sister. I wanted to trust his family and get along with them. But I thought back to everytime I interacted with her. She always glared at me like I was a bane on her exsistance. She tripped be into a pond even though she knew I could have been seriously hurt. I sighed and texted her back.

*A*
I know.

____________________________________

Tell me what you guys think of this one. I want to know if you want me to speed things up a little or if you want more build up to the relationship.

As always, please point out any and all mistakes.