It was silly but the night of the dance Kelly was suddenly excited.

She couldn't help it.

She had never gotten to go to any of her dances in high school, she was too busy with her own family stuff and taking care of Sammy to go. Not that she was complaining or anything, but it made her stupidly excited for this dance. She had tried to deny it, tried to ignore it, but she couldn't anymore. She was literally so excited to be going to this dance.

She had spent the rest of the week before the party getting dance lessons, which was arguably the best part of her day.

And the best part about it was that she didn't have to feel guilty about enjoying hr waltzing lessons anymore.

Franklin was no longer in a relationship he was free to dance with whoever he wanted to. He, also, didn't seem broken up by his break up at all. Business had gone on as usual, and Franklin had basically been the same throughout it all.

She was also very happy that he had basically forced her to keep the dress. Once she had opened up that dress bag she could see why everyone wanted it. It was obviously very pretty.

It was this bright white that faded down into a navy blue, the hem was in tatters with a large slit up the side. It had no sleeves, but instead these dazzling bejewelled wristlets that went up to her elbows. She was a little worried that the sweet heart bodice wouldn't fit her, but it fit her like a glove.

She'd love to know how Elsa had managed to measure her so accurately without actually having to measure her.

It came with a matching veil, a crown of dead flowers with a matching dead bouquet. By the time she had it all on she definitely looked like a Corpse Bride.

Honestly, she had never felt so pretty in a costume before.

Once she got herself set up it was time for Sammy. She got him into white and black striped pants and his tan tunic. They she got the coat on, the belt on right and his hat and eye patch. He even had the boots and little plastic sword.

Everything was also frayed as he wanted to be a zombie pirate so he had to look like he was in disrepair.

Then she did his makeup.

He wanted a full zombie face, grey, just like Franklin's, with black stitches drawn on in strategic places.

Kelly had not gone for the same look. She had done glamourous make up, with shimmers and sparkles, though she did draw some stitches on her arms and neck to appease Sammy.

With their costumes on, the two headed down the stairs. Cooper had said he'd meet her down there and they could walk together. She was actually kind of looking forward to that too.

Sure, he wasn't who she really wanted to go with but it was nice to have a date. Someone she knew that she could stand with so she wasn't some awkward wallflower standing by the snack table while everyone else danced around her.

Problem was, when she came down the stairs, Cooper was with someone else. Coincidentally pinning the corsage he had gotten for Kelly to her dress. And she knew it was for her, because earlier that week he had asked if she liked it.

Selena really did look lovely in the Cinderella costume that Elsa had given her.

It looked a lot like a wedding dress.

It had big puffy shoulders, a high collar trimmed in what seemed to be actual flowers. The dress was poofy all along the skirt, so she kind of looked like a cupcake, but honestly it just made her seem more glamourous.

Her honey yellow hair was all done up with a little diamond tiara nestled in all the twists atop her head.

But for some reason, she was smiling this dangerously smug smile right at Kelly. One that made her nervous.

"Oh..." Kelly said as she came down the stairs. "Uhm... I didn't know we'd be going as a group..."

Cooper smiled patiently at Selena. "Give me one second," he said to her before coming towards Kelly who was still by the stairs. "I forgot to talk to you," he whispered and she fought back the urge to frown at him. "I uh... I've kinda been waiting for Selena to break up with Franklin... and now that she's single I've asked her to go with me."

Kelly blinked her eyes at him. She was trying to manage her disappointment, trying to feign that it was alright, but honestly it hurt a little.

"That's RUDE!" Sammy suddenly cried and her disappointment turned into laughter that she quickly tried to tamp down. Poor Cooper looked so upset by Sammy's revelation, as if he had no idea that asking a different girl to a dance, when he already had a date was rude.

The least he could have done was tell her before the night of the dance.

"Yeah, wow, no, don't worry about it. Makes sense," she said. "Uh... have fun!"

"Thanks, I knew you'd understand!" he said and then he rushed back to Selena who was still smiling that smug smile at her.

Kelly stayed firmly rooted on the steps holding onto Sammy's hand watching as they left. She figured it would be a good idea to let them get a head start.

She didn't want to be the pathetic girl who came in on the heels of her date when he was with someone else.

"I'm sorry Kelly," Sammy said right away. "Do you want me to be your date?"

Sammy had been talking nonstop about all the fun he and his friends were going to have in their own room in the mansion. It was very noble of him to offer to give that up to go with her.

"As much as I'd love to be the cutest couple there, I'll be fine. It's honestly not a big deal," she said and then she bent down closer to him to whisper: "And I didn't really want go with him all that much anyway."

Sammy sniggered at that and Kelly found herself laughing too.

"Right, you ready to go?" she asked and Sammy immediately began to bounce as he cheered a very excited: "YES!" at her.

She then led him out of Granny's and down the pathway to the mansion.

The whole building looked alive for once. The outside was decorated in twinkling fairy lights. Every window sill had a lit jack-o-lantern. The hedge rows were also lit up in lights, orange this time, and there were more jack-0-lanterns lining that walk way and stairs.

Elsa had gone all out on sparking spider webs that were hanging from strategic places. It looked like a haunted ginger bread house.

Sammy was practically vibrating he was so excited, even Kelly was excited. Though her excitement was contained to a practically fluttering heartbeat.

Date or not, this was going to be an amazing night and she couldn't wait to get in there to party with everyone.

She was fairly certain if she told Elsa what happened she wouldn't mind letting Kelly hover around her and Dr. Vaneer. Or she could go stay with Veera, help her hand out treats or what not.

She didn't go to the ballroom first, though. She took him up to the playroom Franklin had set up. The kids were all in there, including Aswella.

The harpy was not in attendance, but she was fine with letting Aswella attend, seeing as she did love the party, and she'd love it even more when she got to go home and tell her mom all about it.

"Okay, you have..." Kelly started but Sammy wasn't listening. He tore right into that room without even a second thought about Kelly. She watched him run towards Mira Callum, who was probably his best friend, and just sighed out the: "...fun..." to finish her sentence.

Kelly had often dreamed of a time like this. Where Sammy could be a regular little kid, but that was when she had them somewhere safe and secure. And while she knew their step-mother wouldn't be able to find them here, she wasn't really secure, was she?

It wasn't like she had her own home or even an apartment. She was living in a Bed and Breakfast.

Well... no point worrying about it now. Sammy was fine and she was about to fulfil a lifelong dream of hers.

She turned around expecting to finally make her way down to the party going on in the ballroom. It hadn't officially started yet and wouldn't until the Corpse Bride and Groom had their first dance, which meant that Kelly would have to find Franklin soon.

She just found him sooner than expected.

She turned and there he was, looking nothing short of completely dapper, right behind her.

Franklin's suit was distressed in all the right places, he had let Elsa dress him up in cobwebs, and he had done his makeup. Or Elsa had. Probably Elsa. There seemed to be a blue tinge to him, he was clearly wearing eyeliner and clear lip gloss, and the dark shadows of his face had been darkened up.

Though that might have been the glare he had pointed at her.

She just couldn't take that glare seriously when he was standing there in a puffed up, dusty, slightly ripped up three piece tux, with a top hat up on his head.

It was just another reminder that, for some reason completely unknown to her, she found this furiously frustrating man insanely attractive.

"Is it true?" he asked, his hands on his hip. Kelly had no idea what he was talking about, of course, and it didn't help that her brain seemed to have go to mush at the sight of him.

Kelly literally looked him up and down, from the very tip of his toes back to his face and when she got back up there she found that the glare was gone and confusion had taken its place.

"Are you okay?"

Oh. He had noticed. Not good. Not good.

"Uh... yes? What... what were you saying?"

The glare was back on his face, as if the reminder of the situation had made him angry again. "I was asking you if it's true that Cooper ditched you for Selena."

Damn, how... how did everyone know that already? It wasn't like she had been bragging about her date. She didn't think Cooper was ether. Did he and Selena just walk in and tell everyone what happened? Was this payback for getting the dress... and inadvertently ending Selena and Franklin's relationship?

Actually that sounded a lot like what Selena would do. She had that mean girl vibe.

Kelly bit back the huff but she couldn't stop the frown from touching her lips. "Well... I mean... that's a very rude way of putting it..."

"Is that what happened or not?"

"Not really? I mean, he did forget to mention he wanted to go with her instead, but honestly I'm fine with..."

"I'll deal with him later," Franklin snapped and her eyebrows furrowed. She didn't want him to do anything too rash. "Right, well you can stay with me then."

"You mean like as your date?"

She shouldn't have asked that, but Kelly couldn't help herself. She wanted the clarification.

Franklin went this adorable bright pink and immediately began to stammer. "Uh.... I uhm... if you'd like?"

"I mean... it'd be nice... but if you don't want to then...."

"No, no," he said quickly. "I wouldn't mind... Oh... uh... I don't have... I mean, I should have had a corsage then..."

"It's fine," she said, because, really, how was the boy supposed to know to get her a corsage if he had planned on going stag all week? She offered him her arm. "Come on, don't we have a party to attend?"

Franklin took it right away, shooting her this pleased little smile. "Uhm... Elsa wanted to uh... she wanted..."

"She wants to do my makeup right? Match us up?"

"Yeah."

It wasn't like Franklin to be at a loss-of-words. If she had to guess she'd say that he was nervous, though she didn't know what he had to be nervous about.

Still he led her to his office and ushered her in.

"I'll uh... I'll be waiting outside, is that okay?"

Kelly nodded and then he quickly shut the door on her. When she turned around Elsa was standing there in a beautiful black dress. A white spotted fur floor length coat was sitting on a chair. Her usually black hair was half black and half white.

"Cruella, huh?" Kelly asked as she came towards the spider lady.

Elsa just smiled at her. "And someone has a new date," she said. "I take it you're pleased with the change?"

Elsa hadn't even touched her yet. How the hell did she know all this?

Kelly had always known that news travelled fast in a small town, it was a typical stereotype, but this was ridiculous.

"Franklin was in here when news that Cooper came with Selena reached us," she said, answering Kelly's unanswered question. "Never seen the man so furious."

He had been furious? On her behalf? Why?

"Stormed right out of here, once I finished with him, of course. Went looking for you. Figured that meant he'd be offering to take you in Cooper's stead. It's his first dance single, you see. I could tell he wasn't too pleased about it..."

Right, so this was mutually beneficial for the both of them. Course he wasn't interested in asking her simply because he liked her.

Kelly tried to not let that get to her.

She could still have fun. This could still be like her dreams. She didn't need the perfect date for this to be the perfect night.

It seemed as if Elsa hadn't quite realized that this revelation had bummed Kelly out. She was busying adding to her make up. Darkening up the shadows of her face, to make her seem more skull like and undead, much like she had for Franklin.

It was when she started dusting her that she said: "He didn't want to ask you simply so he wouldn't have to go alone."

Kelly frowned at her. "You're not supposed to read me without my permission."

That had Elsa chuckling, probably because Kelly sounded exactly like Franklin. "Couldn't help it, my dear. Like Franklin, you think of him quite loudly."

"Franklin thinks about himself loudly?" Kelly asked. That sounded like him. He was very egotistical.

"Course not. He thinks about you," she said and Kelly found herself going stock still. He... he thought about her? Really?

"How... how often does he think about me?"

Elsa didn't answer though. She was busy draping cobwebs through Kelly's up do and shoulders.

"This isn't a transaction, my dear. You're not a bit of finery to have on his arm. He's nervous because he cares what you think about him. So take that as you will."

Kelly found her lips twitching. She wanted to ask more questions. Clearly Elsa was in the know, but she also figured that was because she was getting a glimpse into Franklin's thoughts. One that she wasn't searching out. It wouldn't be fair for her to tell Kelly about them and she knew that.

She still wanted to ask.

"Uhm... thanks for the advice?"

She wasn't sure if it was advice, maybe just guidance?

Elsa smiled prettily at her and then said: "There you go. Done."

"Thanks... do... are you going to head down now too?"

"Yes. You were the last person I had to do up and Chris is waiting for me in the ballroom."

"Yeah? What's he dressed up as?"

"He's a sugar skull every year. So he's dressed in a mariachi outfit and I painted him up and bedazzled him."

"Oh cool."

Kelly was stalling. She was nervous about going out there. What if Franklin hadn't waited for her? What if he had?

What if he didn't find her nearly as appealing as she found him?

God why was she so nervous all of a sudden.

"Come on," Elsa said, threading her arm with hers and practically pulling her towards the door and then through it.

Franklin was waiting right where he said he'd be. Leaning against the railing across from his office doors, waiting. Just like he said he would. She wasn't sure why she doubted him.

Franklin straightened the second the door opened. He did what she did when she found him behind her. He looked her down and then up his eyes focusing in on her face.

"You look uhm... uhm...."

"Beautiful?" Elsa supplied for him and he nodded.

"Yes. That."

"Thanks. I should have told you earlier but you look quite handsome yourself."

Franklin's smile widened, not in the smug sort of smile she was used to but in a genuine one.

"Right, well I'm heading in. You two love birds feel free to join us soon," Elsa said, throwing her last comment over her shoulder as she headed down the stairs.

"Elsa," he growled but she merely waved him off as she continued down the stairs. He then turned an apologetic wince towards her. "Sorry... she..."

"It's alright," Kelly said. "Uhm... did you want to go in now, or do you want to wait?"

"No," he said right away offering her his arm. "I'm good to go."

Kelly took that offered arm and the flutter in her chest came back. But this time, it wasn't just the excitement of her first dance that was causing her heart to beat that fast. It was Franklin's touch.

And together they walked down the stairs and into the ballroom.