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Halloween traditions had taken place between you and your friends for years. It was something you always loved to do.
Seeing how big the ‘holiday’ was in America made you wish you were over there to celebrate. Most people around your parts didn’t really care so it wasn’t a big deal to dress up.
Most of your other friends saw it as an excuse to have a piss up at someone’s house, which was fine, but Halloween to you was about being scary or putting actual effort into your costume. Bunny ears and devil horns paired with a slutty dress really wasn’t your style.
So you were glad you had actual friends who had the same mentality as you. Not that your lad friends would have condemned you for dressing slutty but they knew you liked to go all out for Halloween. So that’s what you’d always done.
Growing up on the outskirts of Manchester meant that you could always quickly and easily go into town to find yourself something. Whether that be clothes for normal days or shopping for your favourite night of the year.
You mainly had guy friends so it was quite easy to go as something fun or scary for Halloween. And you were thankful that they were as into it as you because each year you set a budget of how much you wanted to spend on a costume.
The five of you had been friends since primary school but you’d somehow always been together for Halloween. Whether as kids that were staying at one of their houses and watching scary films after you’d been trick or treating, or eventually going out to parties… It was always the five of you.
~*~*~*~ 2003 ~*~*~*~
“What are we doing for Halloween this year?” You ask, sitting yourself down next to Matty on his settee.
“Don’t know” Matty sighs, “We need to go out and have a good around”
You look around at the other three boys who surrounded you. George already looked bored of the conversation, or perhaps he wasn’t paying attention at all.
Adam looked half interested, but you could tell that he was as useless as Matty for ideas. Ross looked interested in the topic of conversation but again seemed to be no help because he was just sitting waiting for someone else to come up with something.
“I don’t mind doing face paints?” You offer, knowing you’d be decent at it. You were Fourteen and could do your makeup surprisingly well when you put your mind to it. “I think I’ll be able to do it”
“Yeah that’s good. Let’s see what costumes we can find and then you can see what face paint you can do” Ross smiles and the rest of the lads nod in agreement.
Hours later you found yourself in Manchester in the Arndale browsing the shops in search for the perfect costume. You didn’t necessarily all want to go as something scary but if you weren’t doing anything scary, you wanted to do something you needed to put some sort of effort into.
But maybe it wasn’t the year for that and you’d have to do something like that when you were all older. You were half sure you each had a £20 note and maybe at a push one of you had an extra £5.
You were only 14 years old afterall, there weren’t many ways you could get more money without begging your parents for it. And none of you were like that.
So you were all in one of the pop up shops browsing the abundance of costumes that the shop had to offer when you and Ross saw exactly what you could go as. You both paused, looked at each other and when the grin broke out on both of your faces, you had to shout the others over.
“Guys” You shout, and when they turn around to look at you, you wave them over. “I’ve got an idea”
That year you ended up going as a green ghost and the lads went as the ghostbusters. It was really fun and the pictures that you all took were all hilarious.
You’d attended one of your friends house parties and it was such a fun night. That was one of the first nights you’d got properly drunk and there was a photo of Ross almost having to pick you up and put you over his shoulder because you’d passed out and needed to get home.
You didn’t remember getting home, but apparently he and George helped you back. Something which you were grateful to them for, but didn’t remember.
All you could picture from the night before was having a great time with your mates and to you that meant that you wouldn’t change anything about it.
~*~*~*~ 2006 ~*~*~*~
This year, Halloween was going to be a little more difficult. You desperately wanted to go as characters from your favourite Halloween film, The Nightmare Before Christmas, but you needed one of the boys to be your Jack Skellington.
Last year you all went as the Power Rangers and you painted the masks onto each of your faces. You were the pink one, George was blue, Matty was red, Ross was black, and Adam was green.
The year before that you’d been tasked with putting your creativity to the test and you’d made really gruesome facial wounds with makeup and a wax that would stay on all your faces. You’d been really proud of it because all five of you got compliments all night and all the boys said it was your handy work.
However, you knew that this year was going to be different. You obviously wanted your Jack Skellington, but you didn’t think you were going to find yourself one.
Unfortunately at the age of 17 you hadn’t yet found yourself a boyfriend. You weren’t the only one so you weren’t that fussed, but that just meant it would be harder for you to persuade one of your friends to be the other half of your ‘couple’ costume.
And you knew how stubborn these boys were. You knew that this year Matty and George wanted to go as Shaggy and Scooby.
Adam and his girlfriend wanted to go as Gomez and Moticia, so Adam was out of the question. So that meant that you only had one option left.
So you’d gone round to Ross’ house under the pretence of a movie night with him, to ask him if he would dress up with you. But you when you did you were half way through your second film and he was having none of it.
“Ross please” You beg him, getting onto your knees on his bed so you were blocking the TV from his view.
The brunette just shakes his head at you, “Y/N/N I don’t really want to”
You put your hands on his shoulders so he’d stop trying to look around you, “Please”
“Y/N/N” Ross sighs, before picking up the remote to pause Scream 2.
“Ross, come on” You beg him, and you’re pleading with your eyes when you say, “I never ask you for anything and none of the other lads will do it with me”
“What so I’m your last resort?” Ross asks you with his eyebrows raised.
“No, you’re the first person I’ve asked” You tell him honestly, “But I know that they definitely won’t do it with me”
Ross shakes his head and gestures to his bedroom door, as if his mates were there, “Well go ask them”
“Ross please” You’re just fully begging now, “I’ll do anything”
A smirk makes its way onto the brunette’s face then. He also raises his eyebrows suggestively when he asks, “Anything?”
“Almost anything” You roll your eyes.
You and Ross had been weirdly flirting with each other now and again over the past few months. You think he started doing it more when he complimented you on how you looked and when you went all shy and flustered on him, he enjoyed it.
So here you were now months down the line, probably a lot closer friends because of it too, and he was flirting with you whilst you both sat on his bed.
Ross’ smirk gets impossibly bigger and you can hear the suggestive tone when he grins, “You know you want to Y/N/N”
You scoff a little, “Ross MacDonald the only way you’ll get me into bed is if you somehow make me stop thinking of you as my friend”
“Kiss me then and see if it changes your mind” Ross tells you confidently, moving a little closer to you, but not so much that he made you want to retreat.
“I’m not kissing you” You shake your head, your jaw a little agape until you can control yourself a little better.
You weren’t expecting him to say that of all things today. This was the most overt he’d been in his flirting with you.
Ross usually liked to do it when the other guys were around, so you would get all flustered. You thought it was in hopes that one of your other friends would notice and call you out on it and ask you why.
But there had also been lingering touches too. For example, when you hugged him he would hold you for the slightest bit longer, and other times he would find a way to innocently get his hands on you, but the subtle acts of affection would have your heart rate double in speed.
“Kiss me and I’ll go as Jack Skellington with you next week” Ross tries to bargain dropping the cocky act, just hoping that you would actually kiss him.
He can tell just by the way you’re looking at him that you were flustered and didn’t know what to do. You more than likely didn’t believe him either but he really wanted to try his luck.
Ross could also practically see the cogs whirring around in your head trying to think of a way out or an alternative to the ultimatum he just gave you. But he could see how desperate you were just a few minutes earlier.
“Don’t try and think of a way around it, I just won’t do it. I’ll go as Jack Sparrow like I was meant to” Ross tells you and you know he’s serious.
You think about it for a few seconds and you know he’s not going to change his mind. So you give in, “Fine” and offer his hand to shake, as if it was a real business transaction.
Ross takes your hand and shakes it and you can tell he is about to smirk at you. You could practically see it rising to his lips, so to stop that you remove your hand from his after you’d completed the shake and you hold your index finger up at him.
“But you get your kiss on Halloween” You tell him.
And his entire face falls, “That wasn’t the deal”
You’re a little proud of yourself for making him drop his cocky act, so you tell him with a smirk, “You didn’t specify when you wanted the kiss… And you already shook on it, you have to live up to your end of the deal now and be my Jack Skellington”
“Then shake my hand again to promise me that I’ll get my kiss on Halloween” Ross says, holding his hand out to you.
You hold back your smirk as you take his hand and shake it.
Before either of you knew it October 31st was upon you and Ross had just walked into your bedroom. You already had all your face and body paint out ready to get started, so you were eager that your friend had finally arrived.
“Sit down, sit down” You usher him in and to sit on your desk chair.
You prep him on everything you were going to do and Ross seemed fine with everything. He was just glad that it was finally Halloween and he would get his kiss from you today.
“Am I okay to gel your hair back?” You ask him, sitting opposite him on your bed.
Ross shuffled himself towards you because he knew you’d want him closer than he was on your chair in the middle of your room now. He smiles at you and says, “I mean, you’re going to do it anyway even if I say no”
“You’re right” You grin and get yourself to work.
You’d been working on his face for half an hour now and you had the base of his face down and outlines drawn, you just needed to add all the darker stuff before you add in your detail.
“Do you enjoy doing this?” Ross asked you over the music that you’d both put on.
You’d just been in a little trance as you worked on the area just under his eyes and he couldn’t help but admire you as you worked. He knew that you’d do an excellent job as you always did with your Halloween stuff.
You’d always made them all look good.
“Yeah” You grin, looking away from the lines you are drawing and into his brown eyes, “You know how much I love Halloween”
“I mean doing makeup on people” Ross corrects himself, smiling at you a little seeing your Y/E/C eyes wander from his brown ones back to whatever art you were creating on his skin.
He was genuinely interested. Half the time he thought you were going to abandon your career ambitions of being a music producer to become a makeup artist. Sometimes when you walked into the room he’d be floored by how beautiful you looked with your makeup on.
He had the exact same reaction to when he saw you with your makeup off though.
“I mean I don’t mind it but I don’t want to do it unless it’s for Halloween” You tell him honestly, trying your best to concentrate on the dark lines you were creating around his eyes. “Like I wouldn’t paint kids faces at parties and stuff like that”
Ross nods when you move back to get some more face paint on your brush. He feels the need to assure you, “You’re really good at it”
You grin when you turn back towards him, “Thank you”
Another half an hour goes by and you’ve moved on to around his mouth, trying to get all the teeth painted on his lips and up onto his cheeks. Jack Skellington had a huge toothy smile and you were going to do your best to replicate that on your friend.
You were just glad he didn’t have his beard that he so desperately wanted to grow, or this would be nothing but a fantasy. The conversation moves on to this ‘holiday’ as Halloween was both yours and Ross’ favourite day of the year.
“What are we going as next year?” Ross asks you as you get more paint on your brush again.
Ross had to be very aware of when he could speak as he knew you’d murder him if he ruined the art that you were putting onto his body. You’d hate him even more if he did it before you even got to the party.
You try your best to think of different duo Halloween costumes, but you couldn’t really think of much. You shrugged before randomly picking, “We could go as Woody and Jessie?”
Ross nodded a little, “That’s a fun one”
You both threw a few ideas out but Woody and Jessie seemed to be the preferred choice over them. Or that was the case until you had a brain wave.
“Oh, you know what would be good?” You ask, removing your brush away from his skin so he could get excited the same way you were.
Ross raised his now non existent eyebrows at you, and smiling at you seeing you bounce a little on your bed getting excited at whatever idea you’d just had. Your grinning like a mad woman when you say, “Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable”
Ross’ jaw dropped at that great idea. He loved it. “Oh my god, yes! Let’s do that”
“Okay sorted” You grin before you finish off his makeup by adding extra details with eyeshadow to create more definition where it was needed.
Another two hours went by and you were all Sally’ied up. And Ross wasn’t shy with his compliments of what you’d created too.
All you had left to do was spray the top of Ross’ hair white and then put your costumes on. You’d gone all out with the costumes too, Ross had the striped suit and you had the patchy dress.
You loved these characters so much that you’d gone all out on body paint to make your arms blue, like the colour of Sally’s skin in the film, and you’d got tights that were blue too. You’d also got a decent wig and you could safely say that you were proud of what you’d created.
And you had to admit to yourself that Ross looked really good, especially in his suit.
When you were both dressed and ready to head downstairs to inevitably take pictures, Ross stopped you by your bedroom door. He was holding your waist when he asked, “So when do I get my kiss Sweetheart?”
“MacDonald you have to be joking” You shake your head at him, “We’ve been in here five hours, I’m not ruining our makeup just to kiss you”
“So when do I get it?” He was persistent and wanted an answer, and he was certain that you’d be flushed if your skin wasn’t painted blue.
“We have all night Ross” You remind him, “And I’m certainly not ruining either of our faces before we get to that party”
Ross lets you slip out of his grasp knowing you were right and it really would be a waste of time if you ruined your hard work before your other friends got a chance to compliment you on it.
When you both headed downstairs you got so many pictures with him it was unreal. It was truly a surprise he didn’t want to escape you by the end of the night, because you’d been forced into a bunch more at the party too.
But Ross was still hanging around you, always ready to include you in a conversation that he was roped into, ensuring you were never left out. It had been a nice night and surprisingly uneventful.
All except for Ross’ lingering touches and tight holds. You didn’t mind per say because you were drinking and if anyone questioned you on it you could just blame it on that.
Because there was no way in hell you’d be telling anyone that you liked the way it felt to have Ross hold you against his side like you were his. He was your friend who found it funny to flirt with you at the end of the day, and nothing more.
You certainly wouldn’t be jeopardizing that to find out if it was anything more.
But apparently your dearest friend didn’t hold those same worries as you.
When you went around telling everyone that you were going home around 3am because your taxi was about to arrive, Ross followed you outside. Partly making sure you got in the car okay, but also partly for selfish reasons.
“Where’s my kiss?” Ross asked you after the door closed behind him, seeing you stood near the end of the driveway.
“Oh Ross” You cooed, walking over to him to cup his cheek. He looked down at you like he was confused and to be fair to him, he had every right to be. “Thought you’d have learnt by now MacDonald…”
“I said I’d kiss you on Halloween” You remind him, and Ross nods understanding that.
“It is Halloween” He says, looking at you like you’d lost the plot.
There was a little bip of a car horn then which made you turn around to signal 1 minute to the driver. When you turn back around to your close friend, you leant up to whisper into his ear.
“I didn’t say I’d kiss you this Halloween” You grin, letting your lips brush against his ear as you said it.
When you move out of his grasp though, you send him an evil knowing smirk before you head over to your taxi. And Ross hated that this had been your plan all along.
So you left him there, outside the party with his jaw locked, and a little fuming at you that you’d played him like that. But he couldn’t even bring himself to be angry at you for more than the 2 minutes he stood there watching the taxi drive away.
He’d practically spent the full day with you and he’d loved every second.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After that night Ross and you always did Halloween together no matter what. And those nights with each other were some of the best nights of both of your lives.
Despite Ross still not getting his kiss, even when it wasn’t Halloween.
2007 you both went as Kim and Ron like you’d agreed and the year after that you both made an appearance as Jessie and Woody from Toy Story. The next few years after that you all went back to group costumes.
2009 saw you all as the characters from the Wizard of Oz. You went as Dorothy, Ross was the lion, Matty was the scarecrow, Adam was the tinman,and George was Toto.
2010 you all went as the ghosts from Pac-Man which was quite fun running about chasing each other for half the night. The year after, you all went as Spongebob characters which was amusing when you did the voices all night.
In 2012 you all went as the Avengers which was amazing. You went as Black Widow, Ross went as Thor, Adam went as Hawkeye, Matty was Captain America, and George was Iron Man.
2013 resulted in you and Ross reverting back to your duo costumes and you went as Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swan. The following year you went as Alice and the Mad Hatter but you made the characters slightly more gory with your makeup.
2015 saw you and Ross as a couple from The Purge but then the other lad jumped on the bandwagon and bought masks along with you. So the year again resulted in a really fun group costume.
But in 2016 there was a bit of a debate over Halloween because the guys were on their US tour. And that obviously meant that this was the first year you’d be alone this time around.
Or so you thought.
“Y/N/N come on” Ross pleaded with you over the phone.
“Ross I can’t just fly out to America” You say still really shocked that he’d asked you to join them on tour.
Ross is adamant though, “Yes, you can”
“I can't” You tell him shaking your head as if he could see you.
There was no way you could be out of the studio for that long. You were trying to finish producing Wolf Alice’s upcoming album, and you all wanted it done as soon as possible and you were only at the beginning of the process now.
“You can” Ross tells you sternly, “I’ve already asked Jamie to give it you off and he said it’s fine”
“Ross” You scorn him, “You can’t do that”
You couldn’t believe you he’d gone above your head and asked Jamie.
“Well I can and he was fine with it. He said that the band needs a break from it anyway” Your best friend tells you, and he follows up with, “I’m sorry but it’s done now and your ticket is paid for”
“Ross” You gasp.
You had no idea he’d booked the ticket.
“Y/N, I’ve spent the last fifteen years doing Halloween with you and the fact that we have a show on Halloween means that you can’t not come and see it. And Hann has made it massively Star Wars themed so we’re all dressing up on stage for the night ” Ross tells you, ”You can’t not dress up and come to the show with us”
“Are you sure?” You ask after a few moments in complete shock.
But the more you thought about it, the more you wanted to spend your favourite night of the year with him. You hadn’t seen him in person since early July and now it was the last week of October.
“Of course I’m sure Y/N/N” Ross tells you and you can hear how sincere he’s being.
“There’d literally be no point in me doing this Halloween show if you weren’t there at the side of the stage, in a costume of your own, cheering me on” You can practically hear his smile thinking about it and it just gets you excited too.
“What am I even going to go as, apart from the obvious ones? There’s not a lot of female characters in Star Wars and I’m assuming Matty is going as Princess Leia” You say with a massive grin on your face.
To be honest you could picture Matty taking the piss and showing up at her. It would be quite amusing.
Ross let out a loud laugh at what you said and you were silently giggling to yourself at the thought of it. He informed you that John was actually going as Leia and that thought alone had you in fits of giggles.
You had a massive grin on your face and it didn’t leave as Ross told you that Matty was going as Kylo Ren, Adam was obviously going as Han Solo (you laughed more than you’d care to admit when he told you that), George was going as a Luke Skywalker in the Red 5 pilot outfit and Ross was going as Chewbacca.
“Ross you‘re going to be sweating so much” You laugh.
“Yeah I know but it’s going to be so fun” He grinned, wishing he could see you get excited over Halloween, “And afterwards, when we go out, I’m going as Poe so I’ll be alright after my shower”
You ask him curiously, “What do you want me to go as?”
“Personally…” Ross started, trying to contain the grin breaking out on his face, “I’d like to see you as Leia in that gold bikini”
“Course you would” You grin shaking your head even though he couldn’t see you.
And you were glad he couldn’t because you could feel that your cheeks were hot.
The flirting between you hadn’t stopped over the years. It obviously did when you were both in relationships but it always creeped back in when you were both single.
“How about we go with Rey, if she hasn’t been taken?” You suggest, remembering that her outfit in the film was pretty cool.
“She hasn’t been taken, no, but I’d really like you to go as slave Leia” Ross informs you and you can hear his smirk.
Your jaw drops but you don’t let that affect you. You fire back, as if he didn’t just make you silently gasp, “We don’t always get what we want”
“I know“ Ross grins, “I’ve been waiting for my Halloween kiss for the past decade”
You giggle, “Are you still not over that?”
“Absolutely not, you left me there absolutely gutted. Seventeen year old me is still injured” Ross tells you and you can hear the humour in his voice.
“Well Ross, maybe if you didn’t get a girlfriend the next year you’d have got it then” You tease.
Ross just gasps though, “Says you! You’re the one who was in a relationship for five years after that”
“Don’t say that like you were left out” You say a little offended. “Halloween has been, and always will be, mine and yours’ thing… Still dressed up with you every single year and I have done since I can remember”
Ross mumbles, “I know” a few times and you settle into a small comfortable silence. You liked it when you were just aware of the others presence and that you could speak up when you wanted to.
“I‘m glad you’re coming this year… It means a lot Y/N/N” Ross tells you genuinely.
You smile hearing him say that. You bit your bottom lip to stop yourself from fully grinning.
You tell him honestly but say it as a little joke, “I’m glad I don’t have to spend it on my own”
You chat for a little longer, getting as much out of the phone call as you could. With you busy during the day with work, it left you tired most nights and with Ross in America at least 5 hours behind you, there weren’t many nights you found yourselves able to talk to each other.
But when you’re wrapping up your conversation, you think back to your costume for this year. “Okay so we’re in agreement on my costume then?”
“Yeah of course” Ross tells you, “I’ll order you the slave Leia costume now, just send me your sizes”
You can hear his suggestive smirk and it makes you smile but you sternly tell him, “Rey, Ross…I’m being serious”
“Whatever Princess” Ross grins, “I’ll see you soon”
~*~*~*~
The concert in Pittsburgh was amazing and was easily their best and funniest gig you’d been to. You were standing at the side of the stage and you couldn’t stop laughing the entire time.
Partly because you were watching Matty walk around with a lightsaber on stage like it was always meant to happen and because Hann was Han Solo and you found it a lot funnier than you should have. But also partly, and mostly, because you were watching Ross play bass in a fucking Chewbacca costume.
It was everything you didn’t know you needed in your life.
It was so fun earlier watching them all get changed. It was like a new lease of life before they all went on stage.
You hadn’t seen them like this before and it was really refreshing to see all of your friends so energised before a gig. It was unusual because usually it was a calm before the storm atmosphere, but this time it was the complete opposite.
Matty was waving his lightsaber around like he was a Jedi Knight or a Sith Lord and to be fair to him he was pretty good at it. You’d been surprised multiple times when he hadn’t dropped the thing to the ground.
George, dressed in his orange jumpsuit, was standing on the settee that was backstage and he was jumping all over it like he was in an X-Wing trying to make his way through the Kessel Run. He was acting crazy, like Michael Scott from The Office in the parkour scene, except with Star Wars sound effects being released from his lips.
Adam was just as bad getting his blaster out of his holster every few seconds to try and make George dodge the shots he was ‘firing’. But unsurprisingly the loudest one of them all was your Wookiee who was making the Chewbacca noise at the top of his voice.
God help him when he had to sing ‘End of your cigarette’ later on.
They dragged you into being loud too. You were dressed in Rey’s costume, obviously from The Force Awakens, a film you’d seen many times with this bunch.
So you really shouldn’t have been surprised when Matty dragged you into a lightsaber fight like you really were the characters who you were dressed up as. You’d been fighting for a few minutes, trying your best to actually fight but also trying not to break the lightsabers you had.
“Are you really trying to use the force right now?” You laugh as you circle each other, watching Matty as he held his hand up in the air at you.
Matty grinned, “Thought choking you might distract you”
“The thought might do if you were Adam Driver. But alas… You’re just Matthew Healy” You shrug the comment off.
He had nothing on Adam Driver.
“Sorry, I’ll get your Chewie over here to do it to you instead” Matty teased, his tongue teasingly sticking out a bit, knowing about the weird flirty relationship between you and Ross.
You shook your head at the curly haired man before you started fighting with him again. This time with a little more incentive to injure him.
Unfortunately though, he was saved by the bell and it was showtime. You wished them all luck before you made your way to the side of the stage so you could watch the new and improved movie titles move up the screen.
You loved every single second of this concert. You were so glad you’d been invited and you came.
During the break between the encore Ross had come over to you to tell you that everyone was coming on stage who was dressed up and he told you that you had to as well. You agreed but there was no way in hell you’d be doing it.
You just told him what he wanted so he’d leave you to it and so he could get back to his job. However when the end of the gig was upon you, and you were refusing to come out, Ross came over to the side of the stage and pulled you on to the centre with Matty, George, and Adam along with the rest of the crew and you were just all stood there cheering along with the crowd.
The night had been amazing and certainly one you’d never forget. You were watching your best friends perform on stage in Pittsburgh and they were dressed as Star Wars characters.
It was mental and you loved every second.
When you all walked off stage and got into a more spacious room everyone spread out, but you were still in Ross’ arms. He pulled you into a hug when you walked to the side of the large room and you hugged your Wookiee back.
You could feel how hot he was through his costume and you honestly weren’t surprised. You raised your hands up to remove his mask for him and your jaw dropped when you saw his face underneath.
One, because he was the sweatiest you’d ever seen him, and two, he looked so fucking good. The fine layer of sweat that coated his skin made him look like he was glowing, his hair was a little matted against his forehead but it held in a way that just looked very attractive to you.
And when his brown eyes connected with your Y/E/C ones, your heart skipped a beat. You could see that he was full of adrenaline, completely happy, and buzzing with excitement.
“You’re so sweaty, oh my god” You gasp, biting your bottom lip in an attempt to not comment again.
“You love me so you shouldn’t care” Ross said as he pulled you into another warm hug.
Of course, you hugged him back, letting his mask fall to the floor as you did so. When your arms went tight around his neck, you said, “Yeah I do love you, but I’ll love you more after your shower”
“You‘re dripping wet” You say, brushing your hand down his chest on the fur on his costume from the sweat that coated your hand when you held the back of his neck to hug him.
Ross smirked down at you then, “You sure that’s not you seeing me in this wonderful outfit?”
“Oh yeah” You play along, grinning up at him, making no moves to get out of his steady hold on you, “Chewbacca’s fit as fuck”
Ross chuckles down at you then and you see his gaze flick to your lips for a brief second. It seems to spark a memory on his mind because a second later he asks you, “Can I have my kiss now then Darling?”
“Go and have a shower and I’ll think about it” You tell him with a little smirk over the noise of the busy room.
“Want a kiss on my cheek before I go” He tells you with a torturous smirk.
God he looked so good. But you didn’t want to give in that easily.
“You‘re all sweaty Ross” You protest and try and move out of his grip.
His hold on your just tightens though so your stuck against his body as he says, “I‘m not letting you go until I get it”
“Fine” You shake your head before looking back at his glistening cheek.
You lean up and you quickly place a kiss on his left cheek. The top of his beard prickles the bottom of your lip, but it just makes you all the more aware that it is your best friend Ross who you were kissing.
“And the other cheek” Ross tells you when you pull away.
He’d never been such a needy person with you before. When Ross came home each time of course you always gave him a massive hug and a kiss on the cheek.
But something was different about it right here and right now. And you both knew that.
“What are we? French?” You giggle a little.
“If you wanna French kiss me Y/N, you’re very welcome to” Ross grins down at you and you can’t help but laugh.
Your cheeks were definitely getting hotter but you couldn’t find it in you to care when he held your hips the way he was doing. You just tried to remain calm under his intense gaze.
“Pushing your luck now” You chuckle.
“Fine” Ross smiles but turns his head, “Kiss on the cheek”
You lean in to kiss his right cheek expecting to get the same fine layer of swear on his smooth skin with the top of his beard prickling your lip again. But instead you’re met with his lips because Ross had turned his head at the last second to make sure he finally got his Halloween kiss.
It’s only a peck but your eyes widen from it and when you pull away, your jaw has dropped. Ross is the complete opposite though. He’s completely overjoyed that his little trick had paid off and he lets you go and jumps away from you.
It was the reaction you’d expect from a man who’d had a hard life winning the lottery and never having to work again. It was like his dreams had come through.
Ross teased you about it for a good two minutes, watching as you grew more flustered with every passing comment. He loved your reaction to him though, he would forever enjoy making you stumble on your words because of something he did.
When Ross rushed off to his dressing room to have a shower you stayed behind not wanting to be in anyone’s way. It was also an attempt to control yourself again.
You managed to peel your jaw off the ground when you sat yourself down on a random railing that was in the concrete room as you waited for your friends to rejoin you. You knew how eager everyone was to get to this party, so you were quite excited to spend the night with them.
But as you rested on this railing you slipped into your thoughts. And that was started by a simple old habit of yours that was your tongue wetting your lips.
When your tongue made contact with your lips you weren’t expecting the salty taste you found there. You realised quickly that the new taste on them had been left there from when your lips pressed to Ross’ skin. But the more you thought about it, it just lurred you deeper down the rabbit hole.
It made you wonder if that’s what his skin would taste like when you pressed a kiss to his neck after having some fun with him in his bed. Is that what his lips would taste like after you’d both coaxed an orgasm out of each other and you were basking in the feeling after it by attaching your lips to his?
You’d been having these thoughts for a while. The ones that questioned if you or Ross could be something more than you already were without ruining anything between you.
You spoke to him all the time, he was your confidant, someone you trusted wholly. But could you trust him with your heart?
You didn’t know.
About an hour later, you were out at the bar that they had privately hired for the whole crew to have an awesome night and it truly was one. Halloween music played through the speakers and you already knew it was your favourite Halloween to date.
Everything about it was special. The setting, the amount of effort that had gone into it, the costumes, and the company.
You and your friends were all tipsy now. Whilst most of the crew was up on the dancefloor, you little group of friends were sat in a booth, just absorbing in the atmosphere and enjoying the conversations you were having.
You were also happy that Ross hadn’t shied away from you after earlier on. Not that you thought he would have done, but you were really glad he was acting the same flirty way with you even after he’d got his kiss.
“You look really good” Ross’ lips brushed your ear as he told you over the loud music.
You grin, leaning into his side a bit more, “Thank you”
You’d always liked to toy with him so you told the freshly showered man a lie, “You looked better with the Chewie mask on”
“Y/N” Ross’ jaw dropped, “I’m appalled”
You tipsily giggle, “I’m only joking”
You let your eyes wander up and down his new attire and his freshly gelled hair until your eyes find his again, “You make a good Poe Dameron”
“As good as Oscar Isaac?” Ross asks, despite knowing the way you just looked at him was a lot more than just checking his costume.
“You do well, Ross” You grin at him but then his smile turns into a teasing knowing smirk.
So you hold up a finger at him, “Don’t make me retract my compliment because you’re getting cocky”
“I got my kiss. Can’t help but be a bit cocky” Ross pulls you into his side a bit more and again you make no attempt to stop him.
“You mean you stole your kiss” You tell him with a knowing look.
That information didn’t seem to be important to him though, because Ross grins at you as he says, “But I got it is the main thing”
“You may have got a better one if you just waited” You tell him.
Patience is a virtue afterall.
Ross shakes his head though, “I don’t think I could have taken another year of waiting”
You grin, sort of liking knowing that he wanted to kiss you, “Got the patience of a saint, haven’t you?”
“Well…” Ross smirks, ”You know me”
A few hours pass and you’re now standing just beside the table that held all your groups empty glasses and you hugged your friend close to you. Your arms were around Ross’ waist and his were around your shoulders, both drunkenly just enjoying the other’s hold and company.
You both just stood there people watching for the longest time. Looking at Matty still wafting that stupid lightsaber about whilst Adam looked like he was on top of the world because he was finally his favourite character.
You think George had disappeared off for a smoke but you didn’t care much. You just felt completely content with your arms around your best friend and your face resting against his chest.
Standing there watching all your friends mess around with the crew having the best time just made your heart swell. You felt so lucky to be a part of their lives and you were thankful you’d stayed close friends with them all.
It seemed like a full lifetime ago that you were sitting in your bedroom turning Ross into Jack Skellington. Yet now you were here stood somewhere in Pittsburgh, in his arms and you honestly didn’t want to be anywhere else on your favourite night of the year.
Or any night of the year for that matter.
You pick your head up off his chest and look up at him. Ross’ drunken eyes meet yours and he gives you his adorable lazy grin all while feeling his hand absentmindedly run up and down your back. You couldn’t help but grin back.
“Thank you for bringing me here” You tell him, looking into beautiful brown eyes.
“Thank you for coming” Ross told you, “Don’t know what I’d do without you, especially today”
You felt your heart skip a beat at how genuine he was being with you. You knew he was being sincere with you
“Don’t know what I’d do without you in general” You tell him.
Ross stops caressing your back then and his hold on you goes firm, almost like he wanted you to really understand what he’s about to tell you next.
“You don’t ever have to find out” He tells you and you feel like you could just cry in happiness.
You do something then that Ross never believed would happen. But here you were removing your arms from around his back, reaching them up to the back of his neck and pulling him down so you could kiss him.
The moment your lips met it was like they were always meant to be attached. The peck before had been teasing but you both knew that this was the real deal.
As your lips moved against his, you felt his hold on you tighten which you encouraged by letting your fingers lace into the back of his hair that was in desperate need of a cut. You wanted him, you wanted more of him, and you were thankful Ross seemed to want more too because he deepened your kiss.
When your tongue met his, you both melted into each other. You didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world other than with him in the exact situation you were in now.
The way the butterflies erupted in your stomach was a clear indication that you obviously felt more than just friendship towards Ross. And the fact that your heart beat always picked up in his presence was another giveaway.
You were surprised you weren’t currently having a heart attack because you could feel how fast your heart was beating. And you’d only ever felt like this when you kissed someone you truly liked.
So the answer to your question of ’if you could trust Ross with your heart or not’ was something you truly didn’t know. But then another question came from that which was, ‘Were you filling to find out?’
And from this kiss alone you knew that you were willing to give him everything.
~*~*~*~ 2019 ~*~*~*~
“Can you just let me do this to you please” You beg the brunette.
“You can do whatever you want to me if you stay sat like that” Ross says suggestively with a massive smirk on his face.
You were currently straddling his waist in an attempt to get a start on his Halloween makeup. It was the only way you could get him to stop moving and he evidently wasn’t complaining about the position.
“Ross” You shake your head at your boyfriend of almost 3 years. “I‘ve sat like this plenty of times with a lot less clothes on and you’ve been less suggestive then”
Ross just rolls his eyes at you, but his suggestiveness stays, “Maybe I just want you like that now with a lot less clothes on”
“You can wait till later on” You tell him, picking up your sponge that held the white face paint.
“But I want you now Darling” Ross purred into your ear after leaning forward and nuzzling your neck.
“Macdonald, stop it” You tell him sternly when you feel him begin to trail kisses down your neck.
However, you made no attempt to actually get him to move away. You liked the feeling of his lips on your skin too much.
“You‘ve never once told me to stop kissing your neck and I don’t intend to start doing now” Your boyfriend tells you, his kisses becoming a little more possessive on your skin.
“Ross” You sigh.
It was a little half hearted telling off though because you put the sponge back down and tilted your head a little to let him carry on the pleasurable actions. Who wasn’t a sucker for neck kisses?
“Y/N” Ross grins against your skin, evidently loving that he knew you weren’t going to stop him just yet.
After another minute, you had to call time, “Okay, you’ve had your fun”
You use the hand that wasn’t covered in white paint to pull on his hair and remove his lips from your skin. You look into his brown eyes and give him a silent warning before you air a verbal one.
“Let me finish you off” You tell him picking your sponge back up.
You’d only covered his forehead. You needed to get a move on, the party was in 5 hours and when you practiced the look you were going for, it took you 2 hours to do it on yourself.
“Stand up a second and let me get my pants off then” Ross teases and he makes you release a noise that was something between a scoff and a gasp.
“You know I mean your face paint, you horny bastard” You say slapping his chest which makes him laugh.
You were really good at creative makeup, a skill that you were so glad you’d stumbled across all those years back after buying the same shitty costumes got boring. You were going as clowns this year and you didn’t want to go as Pennywise or anything so you just decided to have a mess around with the makeup that you had.
George was throwing the party this year and obviously you and Ross were going as a matching pair like you’d been doing for years. Except this time you and Ross were obviously an actual couple, like you were last year too.
You shouldn’t have been so stubborn for so long with refusing to kiss him, because on Halloween night all after his concert you’d barely been apart since. Your relationship started at the end of that American tour and you’d been with him happily ever since.
About an hour into you painting his face, Ross asks you, “What’s your favourite costume of ours been?”
“I don’t know” You say, still concentrating on trying to turn him into a scary jester. “I thought Mario and the gang was fun last year”
Matty and George went as Mario and Luigi, you were Princess Peach and Ross was Donkey Kong and Adam was Waluigi. It had been hilarious and one of your favourite ones, mostly because you pissed about all night, and Matty kept stealing you from Ross, like a role reversal of the actual game.
“I thought that the year before as the Game of Thrones characters was good” Ross thought out loud and you had to agree.
“Yeah… To be honest, I enjoyed being Daenerys and you were a good Night King” You smiled at the memory, applying the layers of paint to Ross’ skin delicately now.
“I can’t believe how amazing you did my make up that year. Like everyone didn’t know who i was” Ross couldn’t help but grin.
He’d been so over the moon to be in amazing makeup that you’d created, and at the same time he was so proud of you being so clever. He truly thought he had the perfect girlfriend, there was no way you could get any better.
“That may have been because you clean shaved for it though” You think out loud and smile when you add, “When I woke up the next morning I was like ‘Where’s my Ross gone?’”
“Yeah yeah, I remember you begging me to grow the beard back” Ross once again finds himself smiling which you meant you had to stop decorating his skim for a moment.
His smile was award winning, you loved looking at him when he smiled.
“Was back by Christmas” You grin. “I love it… You know I do” You grin, scratching his beard a little and Ross gives you that loving smile he always has done when you do that to him.
“The memory of that Halloween was better before the last season with the Dani and Jon thing” You say as you get back to business, adding more detail to his pretty, but now slightly spooky face.
“Yeah” Ross agrees, “You’re mine, not Matty’s”
“Yeah well, he had the curly hair so it made sense, and we weren’t to know they’d shag” You chuckle a little.
Ross laughs a little then, telling you, “I’m still not over george going as Drogon”
“Don’t” You burst into a fit of giggles.
It truly had been an amazing night.
But not as amazing as the night you were about to experience.
“You’re the prettiest clown I’ve ever seen” Ross told you once you came down the stairs in your shared home, in your costume and full face of makeup.
“Thank you” You grin.
You liked that you’d make the both of you pretty spooky, and the detail that was on both of your faces actually made you proud. You liked that you were good at something and the fact that that thing was Halloween makeup made you even happier.
“You look a hell of a lot better than any other clown I’ve seen too” You grin at your boyfriend, pulling your clown up from the settee.
“I don’t know how much of a compliment that is considering we know of Twisty from American Horror Story and Pennywise from IT”
“Well” You shrug your shoulders pulling him towards the front door, “You’re a pretty clown”
You were running slightly late and you wanted to make the most of your night. After all Halloween was the best night of the year.
Before you make it outside though, Ross pulls you back towards him and says, “Give us a kiss” and he leans in to attach his lips to yours.
The pre-drinks had evidently gone to his head because that wasn’t going to happen.
“Woah, wait” You say, placing your hand on his chest, “Absolutely not Ross, the facepaint!”
He doesn’t seem to care though because he goes in to kiss you again and you almost screech, “Ross!”
He looked a little hurt by your rejection but in hindsight he should have known you’d deny him the simple pleasure of your kisses. It was your favourite night after all and you never let anything ruin it.
“I’m being serious, you can kiss me every other night of the year, but until we are back here later on after the party your face is allowed nowhere near mine” You tell him, giving him a pointed look.
Ross should have known you’d never give in to your little ultimatum, no matter how obvious he made it that he wanted your kisses. But Ross had a plan of action for that.
A plan that had been prepared even before you’d denied him kisses today though. And about 4 hours into the party when you were both a little tipsy Ross put his plan into motion.
“Oh” Your boyfriend say, grabbing your attention, ”I forgot, I got you something for our anniversary”
You furrow your eyebrows, “Ross, it’s not for another month”
He’d officially asked you out towards the end of November when his tour finished and you obviously said yes. You’d been acting like a couple since that Halloween anyway but you just didn’t label it for a few weeks.
You’d been over the moon when he asked though.
“Well, the anniversary of when I got my kiss then” Ross corrects himself, taking your hand in his.
“Right okay” You giggle, loving that he remembered.
“How did you get whatever it is here?” Your curious self asks as you follow Ross into George’s back lounge away from the crowd of people in the other room.
The only people in this room were the rest of the band and their significant others, along with Jamie and John. Seems like you all wanted to escape from the noise of the booming speakers in the other room.
Ross turns to you a little when he tells you, “Had to keep it hidden from you, didn’t I? Or you’d have found it”
You grin, knowing he was right. You were too nosy for your own good.
Ross let’s go of your hand just before he reaches George’s bookshelves and you smile at your adorable boyfriend when he reaches up and pulls too balloons down.
Ross then holds out two balloons to you, as if they were ice cream cones. Both balloons were orange with pumpkin faces on them but one said trick underneath and the other said treat.
Your cute boyfriend asks you, “Trick or treat?”
“Treat” You smile and Ross seems happy with your choice.
He tosses the other balloon away and it falls to the floor silently. Ross keeps your attention and then hands you a shitty kiddy Halloween spider pin that’d also been on George’s shelf.
“Use the needle on this to pop the balloon. I’ll hold it” Ross tells you and you endeavor to do as you’re told.
He holds it at the bottom, like an ice cream cone, and you pop the top of it, something which causes a load of glitter and confetti to burst out of it. You followed it down expecting just that to be your cute little treat that your boyfriend had made for you.
But you saw that the bursting of the balloon left a small silver box in Ross’ hand. It looked like something you’d put earrings inside or a little trinket or cufflinks or something.
So when he handed it to you to open, with a grin, you were expecting cute little spider earrings or something along those lines.
What you weren’t expecting was for your eyes to focus so much on undoing the little silver bow around it that you didn’t see your boyfriend kneel down on the floor. And you certainly didn’t expect to find a diamond ring when you got the lid off the box.
As soon as your eyes found the diamond they widened in shock and when you glanced back up to your boyfriend and he wasn’t there, you let out a gasp when you spotted him kneeling down on the floor.
Ross was grinning at you in the most loving way, adoring your reaction to the surprise engagement he’d been planning since you first said you’d be his. So he took your hand that was holding the box, in his soft ones and kept you there.
Ross wanted to tell you all the ways in which he loved you here in front of everyone and deliver his speech he’d been practicing over and over again, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
All he could get out was,
“Y/N/N I love you more than you’ll ever understand, and I’d really love to spend the rest of my life with you” Ross tells you, trying his best not to stand up and hug you into his arms like he was dying to.
So with an erratic heartbeat, Ross continued to ask, “Will you please marry me?”
“Course I will” You giggle out, you felt like you were bursting with the love that you had for him, “Yes”
Everything seemed to be a whirlwind after you kissed him when he slipped the ring onto your finger. All of the lads came over and gave you the biggest of hugs and a load of kisses.
You couldn’t believe it at all.
Everyone was so lovely congratulating you but all you wanted was to be in your boyfri-, no, your fiancé’s arms. Once all congratulations are out of the way, you find your way back to him, your arms circle his neck and you kiss his soft lips once more.
“I’m so happy you said yes” Ross mumbles against your lips.
You pull away though a little shocked and ask, “Did you think I’d say no?”
“No, well…” Ross seems to be a little indecisive there but he explains, “I don‘t know, I was just nervous I guess”
“Awh, you actually are a clown” You giggle, noting once more that he was a clown, now in more than one sense.
You couldn’t believe that he thought you’d answer anything but yes.
Ross just laughs at your joke and you don’t hesitate to tell him, “I love you so much Ross MacDonald”
“I love you Y/N Y/L/N” Ross tells you and you can’t stop your lips from travelling to his again.
His hold on your waist tightens as your hands, one now more decorated than the other, move up into his hair. You kiss him with all the passion that you were currently feeling, needing to express those feelings in a way that was more than what your words could do.
And you just wanted all of him. He was your best friend and had been for so many years, you wanted his last name, you wanted to wake up next to him every day for the rest of your life.
He was your life. And you were his.
So you tried to deepen the kiss, but your fiancé briefly froze and pulled away, but kept you close. As he paused the kiss, Ross gasped looking at you in shock, “Woah, wait”
“What?” You ask him, not understanding why he suddenly pulled away.
“What about the facepaint?” Ross all but grins at you, obviously thinking he was funny.
“Shut the fuck up” You giggle before you press you lips to his.
~*~*~*~*~*~