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Request: @sicklybitter: 'Prompt 19, Dallon Weekes? It'd be really great if you could do it. Thanks!'

Prompt 19: Horror movies

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After finishing a relentlessly soul-crushing day at work, you exhaled happily as you pulled into your driveway, the sight of your house a welcome comfort. Exiting the car, you walked around to the boot and grabbed your laptop bag along with a few other files that needed to be worked through for Friday. You grunted softly as you wobbled up the path, the weight of the bag and the files dragging you down. You spotted your next-door neighbour, Dallon, through your peripheral vision, and yelled out a muffled greeting in response to the one he'd just extended to you.

"You need some help, there?" he offered, putting the lid back on the trash can before dusting his hands off and starting back up the path.

"No, I've got it. Thanks, though," you replied, just about managing to balance everything while you unlocked the door. When you succeeded, you held up the keys and nodded at Dallon to show him that you were fine. He nodded back and waved with a smile as he entered his home, you doing the same.

Huffing, you heavily dropped all the things you were carrying onto the dining table, nearly tripping in the process. Placing one hand on your hip, you used the other to swat away the stray strands of hair that had fallen loose from your bun and then made your way upstairs to get changed. As you made your way down the upstairs hallway, the faint sounds of a bass guitar caught your attention, and you smiled. Every time you heard the notes fluttering over from Dallon's house, you reminded yourself to tell him how talented he is, but whenever you saw him, it totally slipped your mind. Probably largely due to the fact that the two of you seem to only ever see one another when one of you is preoccupied, most of the time with work. You were an events planner, and he was in a band – both of these being exhaustingly demanding jobs, the two of you hardly ever had time to socialise outside of the neighbourly small talk you'd have in passing. It was quite sad, actually. Especially considering that he seemed like an awfully nice guy. Maybe one of these days your schedules would line up and you'd be able to hang out in a decent way.

~

"Yeah, yeah absolutely. Everything is on track," you spoke into your phone, balancing it on your shoulder as you locked the front door, travel mug full of coffee in one hand, your laptop bag slung over your shoulder and two flip files under your arm. "Are you still fine for meeting today?" You made your way over to your car and as you opened the boot and deposited your things inside, your eyes caught sight of splintering black SUV in your neighbour's driveway – Dallon was back from tour. "Yeah, I can do 4.30. That cute bistro on Main Street. Perfect. See you then."

Hopping into the driver's seat, you pulled out and skidded off to your office. The day dragged by gruellingly slow; the majority was spent double, triple and then quadruple checking that everything was set for the flurry of Halloween parties you had organised for two nights from now – the night before Halloween. You had to meet with two of the clients today, and the other two tomorrow, just to inform them that everything was A-Okay and finalise a few tiny details. It was times like these that you amazed yourself; you were organising four parties, all on the same night, all on different sides of town, all by yourself. Of course, this wasn't the first time you've pulled off such a feat, but nevertheless, your abilities never failed to surprise both you and your clients. You couldn't take all the credit, though. You did have a team of amazing post-graduates who helped you tons – one of them stays at each party on the night to make sure everything is running smoothly while you rotate between all the events – but you did virtually all of the work.

As mentioned before, your job was very demanding.

Every free second you had was spent working, which in turn meant that you didn't really have time to decorate for holidays such as Halloween, Christmas and the 4th Of July – something that never really bothered you much.

Until this year.

~

It was Halloween night, and you were spread out on your couch in a hoodie and sweatpants, chowing down some popcorn and marathoning horror movies, taking immense joy in relaxing after the parties last night (all of which went extremely well, by the way). You got enough of Halloween at the parties last night to last you until next year, so you weren't the least bit concerned by the going-ons of tonight.

Or at least, you hadn't been. Then the doorbell rang.

~Less Than 5 Minutes Earlier~

The ringing of the doorbell sounded throughout the house, and Dallon carefully set down his bass before making is way to the front door, grabbing the nearby bowl of candy before opening it.

He was greeted by a chorus of 'TRICK OR TREAT!' from a group of little kids dressed as The Avengers, and he smiled as he bent down so that his tall frame was level with their tiny ones.

"Wow, you guys look awesome," he smiled, ruffling the hair of the nearby Iron Man.

"Thanks!" the little person beamed, excitedly extending his jack-o-lantern, which Dallon placed a handful of candy in, before doing the same with the rest of the kids.

"Thanks mister!"

"No problem," he smiled.

The group scurried off down Dallon's path and up yours, the Captain America ringing your doorbell.

~Present~

Reluctantly, you got up from the sofa and trudged over to the door, being greeted with the same chorus Dallon had just received not too long ago.

"Shit," you mumbled under your breath, not loud enough for the kids to hear.

With the strain of work and whatnot, buying trick-or-treating candy had entirely slipped your mind, which now left you to suffer through the consequences. Because since you'd only moved here not too long ago, you had no idea how passionate the neighbourhood kids were about Halloween. But you would soon find out.

~

The next morning, your tired frame rolled out of bed and trudged down the stairs to the kitchen, making some instant coffee, needing the caffeine immediately and not wanting to wait for the pot to brew.

Last night was awful. The look on the kids' faces when you told them that you didn't have any candy for them can only be described as pure hatred. They continued glaring at you as they walked down the path and disappeared down the street. This routine repeated itself countless times during the course of the night; each time you had to send kids away left you with a feeling of guilt and slight uneasiness in your stomach.

When you walked down to get the mail from the mailbox, you saw Dallon getting his too, and you greeted him.

"Oh, hey, (Y/N)," he tossed you a cute lopsided grin as he removed his letters from the box and shut it, turning around, "How-Oh." His face fell into a grimace as his eyes raked over your house.

"What's wron-Oh," you gasped as you too turned around, staring open-mouthed at your house, the previously white walls now stained with egg and the trees and window ledges adorned with toilet paper. A strangled cry escaped your throat and you shook your head in disbelief. "But it's not my fault that I forgot! I was busy with work stuff!"

"Yeah, these kids don't really get that," Dallon sympathised, crossing over to your house and placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. "I'll help you clean it up."

You turned to frown at him, shaking your head. "No, Dallon, I can't expect you to do that."

He waved his hand dismissively. "I want to. Please. It wouldn't be very neighbourly of me to just leave you with this mess." He gestured at your trashed house.

"Bless you," you sighed, smiling up at the taller male.

~

"Almost done," Dallon announced, reaching up to scrub the only remaining patch of egg stains from the wall.

"Thank you so much, Dallon. Honestly, if it weren't for you and your giraffe legs, I'd have been screwed."

He tilted his head back as he laughed, the sunrays catching him just right and making him look like a literal angel sent from above.

"So, besides this whole thing," he pointed at the almost non-existent mess, "how was your Halloween?"

"Well," you said, gathering the buckets you had used, "I was having a horror movie marathon. It's kinda like my Halloween tradition. I love scary movies."

"Me too!" his eyes lit up, and he finished up with the cleaning.

"Are you busy tonight?" the words were out of your mouth before you could stop them, and you wanted to slap yourself. But when he responded with a simple 'no' and a dazzling smile, you regained your confidence. "Do you wanna come over and finish the marathon with me? I'll even cook. It's the least I can do to thank you."

"You'll cook?" he looked like a kid in a candy store. "Really?" You nodded. "I'd love to!"

"Great," you smiled, "Come over at 5?"

"I can't wait."

~

An ear-piercing shriek echoed throughout your house, and you giggled as Dallon let out a whimper and huddled closer into the couch, trying as best he could to shield his entire body from danger.

"This has to be the lamest horror movie I have ever seen," you remarked, shaking your head as the woman on the TV got murdered in a horribly cliché and completely avoidable way.

"Are you kidding? It's terrifying!" Dallon argued, his voice coming out muffled since he was still pressed against a pillow. "I'm gonna have nightmares for days!"

"Ya know, for someone who claims to love horror movies, you're a real scaredy-cat."

Dallon's eyes popped out from over the top of the pillow and he sighed. "I have a confession to make," he looked down, ashamed, "I'm not really a fan of horror movies. I lied."

You gasped and clutched at your chest dramatically. "What? No. I never would've guessed." His cheeks flushed at your remark and you giggled. "It's okay, Dallon. I've met people way more scared than you. But... Why lie about it?"

"Because I was hoping that if I said that I liked it too, you'd invite me over to watch some. Which you did."

Your chest tightened at his confession, and now it was your turn to blush. "If you wanted to hang out, you could've just said so."

"I was too much of a scaredy-cat."

"Ya don't say," you sniggered, cuddling closer to the taller human. "Don't worry, though. I'll protect you from the monsters."

You didn't fulfil your promise, however, because halfway into the third movie, you'd fallen asleep on Dallon's chest. But he didn't mind. You were adorable when you slept, and he spent most of the rest of the movie focusing on you rather than the film. In fact, he was too scared of waking you up and ruining the moment that he wouldn't even move to get the remote and turn off the loop of horror movies that were playing. He endured countless near heart attacks due to jump scares that night.

The next morning, he woke up before you, and remembering all the scares he went through last night, he decided to have a little payback.

"AHHHHHH!" he yelled, causing you to shoot out of his embrace and let out a scream of your own.

He laughed as your frightened expression turned to one of annoyance and you lightly slapped him across the arm.

"Why the hell would you do that?" you exclaimed, wanting so badly to be mad, but his cute face made it impossible.

He shrugged. "I just wanted to say that I had a really good time last night, and we should do it again soon."

And with that, he pecked your cheek, got up and walked out the front door.

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Thank you for reading x