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Casey’s bedroom felt more like home to Izzie than her own. There was something so comforting about the warm sunlight, the teal walls, the collection of track trophies and medals, everything scattered in a hodge-podge of a room that could only be from someone who never had to move in their life. Izzie learned pretty young in her life to only keep the necessities, and that everything else would end up lost to her grandma’s basement, a storage unit, or the trash, so in comparison, her room felt so much less like a permanent residence than Casey’s did. And she loved it.
The sun was just beginning to set outside on an unusually warm Friday evening in October, casting a warm orange glow through Casey’s bay window as the two finished their individual homework assignments.
Setting down her pen, Izzie laid down on the bed, her spine letting out a satisfying pop as she did so. “There we go….so...what were you thinking for Halloween costumes?” she asked, staring across the bed at Casey.
“I wasn’t,” Casey shrugged. “People our age still dress up for Halloween?”
Izzie frowned, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. “Yeah, of course we do...and have you been living under a rock for the last month? Penelope’s Halloween party is literally anything anyone can talk about, and if you don’t dress up, you might as well not go. The entire team was invited, she basically made it mandatory for us.”
“Halloween’s not really my thing. Tell her I was sick or I had family plans or something,” Casey replied, turning back to her history work.
Izzie placed her head on Casey’s book, staring up at her girlfriend with a small smirk as Casey let out a noise of protest. “The party’s not my thing either, but I’m missing taking my siblings trick or treating to go to this, so you’re coming too. And I’ve had the map of houses that give out extra candy or full size candy bars memorized since my little brother could walk, it’s a tax for making me go,” she laughed. “What do you mean Halloween’s not your thing? It’s everyone’s thing in some way.”
“It’s just not my thing,” Casey replied with some hesitation. “That’s all.”
“I don’t believe you,” Izzie frowned. “What if we dressed up as Morticia and Gomez Addams? I’ve been thinking about dying my hair darker for a while.”
“You mean that old movie?” Casey asked, furrowing her brows. “But you’d look hot with black hair.”
Izzie leaned over to grab her phone, pulling up a picture of the married couple. "It’s a classic. Besides, the nineties were only, like, thirty years ago, it’s far from old,” she explained.
“What, are we going to have the creepy hand to follow us around too?” Casey remarked.
Izzie shook her head, grabbing Casey’s laptop. “No, but I am going to draw a mustache on your face. Come on, you don’t like it, even a little?” she asked, booting up the film from a sketchy website.
“Uh, not really. Not all of us spent all of our time with our grandmas.”
Izzie rolled her eyes. “She didn’t play it that often...or the series. She actually didn’t like it that much, and my siblings were terrified of it. I watched it on repeat because I thought Morticia was hot….which should have set off some alarm bells. Still think she is, though,,” she laughed. “But come on, I bet you have most of this in your closet already. I know you do, actually. And if you don’t, it's a perfect excuse to drag you shopping.”
“Will it make you happy and get you to shut up?” Casey asked, setting her pen down as Izzie nodded. “Then fine, I guess.”
♕♡♕♡♕♡
“Suddenly I’m not feeling so hot….headache, stomachache, the works..might be the flu, you really don’t want me to come in with you and get everyone sick…” Casey insisted as she and Izzie approached Penelope’s giant home.
They were both a bit more dressed up than most people attending the party - most girls looked like cut extras from the Halloween party scene of Mean Girls, while the guys had little to no costume to match - but Izzie could not have been happier with the outcome of their costumes. Her long hair was a gorgeous deep shade of black, while Casey’s looked absolutely incredible in stiff style.
Izzie sighed, stretching up to place a kiss on Casey’s cheek, just a few inches from the eyeliner mustache. “Come on, it’ll be fun...just stick it out for me, and if you absolutely hate it, we’ll bail and go back to your house and you can force me to watch the scariest movie you want,” she bargained. “Oh, shit...my lipstick transferred..”
“Fine…” Casey sighed, adjusting her pinstripe suit jacket. “How obvious is the lipstick?”
Izzie pushed a lock of her own hair from her face, before tugging the deep V-neck of her dress up. “Not too bad...I should be able to...there,” she grinned, rubbing away the bright red stain with the sleeve of her dress. “Gomez doesn’t have an undercut, you know….but I think it looks super hot,” she beamed as they approached the door, her rosy cheeks a stark contrast against her pale skin from the makeup she caked on.
“I’ve been wanting to. It was this or shave my head completely, and I’m not so sure about that commitment yet,” Casey shrugged, rubbing the fuzzy underside of her hair. “Ready when you are.”
Izzie grinned. “Then let’s go in..!”
While Izzie quickly got swept up in the fun of the party - dancing, drinking, singing along to bad songs she hardly knew the words to - she barely noticed Casey slip away from the crowd.
“Where did your other half go?” Quinn asked, pausing the dance circle many of the track girls had created.
Izzie frowned, glancing around the party for the dark head of hair. “I think I know...I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t wait for me,” she called, pushing through the crowds to the back porch to find Casey sitting on her own a ways away from the groups outside. “Thought I’d find you out here….you okay?”
“Just a bit warm,” Casey shrugged, though she pulled the jacket closer to her. Izzie sat down next to her, the deep black of her dress allowing her to camouflage into the dark. “Hey...having fun?” she asked, clearly a bit startled by Izzie’s presence.
Izzie nodded, placing her head on Casey’s shoulder. “More fun with you, though..” she murmured. “Why do you actually not like Halloween, Newton..? They aren’t gonna hear us, and if they do, they’re too stoned to remember,” she asked, gesturing to the group a bit away smoking joints.
“It’s dumb,” Casey muttered, but Izzie continued to encourage her. “When Sam and I were kids, Elsa would always try and make sure every holiday was perfect and safe for him — which isn’t bad on the surface, obviously, but it took out a lot of the fun of Halloween when I was growing up. She made sure to check all the houses in the neighborhood and we could only go to the houses without jumpscare-y decorations. All of our candy was checked by my parents before we even got a piece, even though we live in the safest neighborhood ever..” she explained.
Casey rubbed the back of her neck before picking at some skin on her thumb. “I get it, obviously, and I’m not trying to sound like I’m mad at Sam because I didn’t get Halloweens like what the kids at school described, but it sucked as a kid, so I just stopped liking it and looking forward to it,” she continued, playing with the hem of her jacket. “Sharice used to invite me to tag along with her in her neighborhood, but it was too late by then...so yeah. That’s why I don’t really like Halloween.”
Izzie pressed her lips together. “Casey, I’m sorry...that makes total sense, and I wouldn’t have pushed you if I knew...come on,” she smiled, standing up. “I have the perfect plan for us.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” Casey asked, standing up as well.
Izzie tossed Casey’s keys towards her, jumping in the passenger seat of the car. “To the grocery store, amore mio,” she grinned, over-emphasizing the Italian.
“Like this?” Casey laughed, gesturing to their Halloween costumes. “Yeah, okay,” she shrugged, pulling out onto the street and towards the nearest grocery store.
Izzie ran into the store without a word once they arrived, only to emerge with two bags packed to the brim. “Okay, I got two bags of candy and popcorn, and we’re gonna watch all the scary movies you can think of and have the best night ever. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Casey laughed. “Back to my house, I presume?” she asked, before Izzie nodded.
Within the hour the two settled into Casey’s room, clean of their costumes and makeup and now adorning sweatshirts and pajamas, before Casey pulled up a movie on her laptop for the two to watch.
Pulling open the popcorn, Izzie settled onto what had practically been dubbed her side of the bed. “So, what are we watching?”
“Jennifer’s Body,” Casey replied with a grin. “It’s not scary at all, but it’s so good. It’s actually funny, for a horror movie.”
Izzie curled up against the taller of the two, smiling. “Sounds perfect,” she nodded. “Hey, Newton?”
“Yeah?” Casey asked, playing with Izzie’s hair mindlessly.
“Have a good Halloween?”
Casey nodded, laughing. “Oh, yeah. The best...thank you, Izz.”
Izzie beamed, leaning up to kiss her girlfriend on the lips. “Of course, anything for you.”