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“Alex Keller, I swear to god if you don’t stop running from me —” Dylan spoke, voice carried over the top of the kitchen table and counters between them, feet circumventing the table and trying to close the distance between them.
She had been at this for well over five minutes at this point, following at a leisurely pace behind the man who continued to evade her at any given chance. Any time the brunette had gotten close enough to him where her fingers could finally grasp his bicep, he ran like she were a hunter and he the prey. Which made no sense in her mind, given all she wanted was to put a dumb headband on his head.
Alex’s laughter bounced off the walls of her kitchen, light on his feet as he bounded off once more when he was within her grasp. Even with the feigned annoyance Dylan emitted, she couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips and the amused shake of her head at his laughter, the sound a symphony to her ears. And god, how much she loved the sound.
“I just fixed my hair,” the man replied, his grin practically splitting his cheeks. “Put a lot of time and effort into looking just right for my pretty little girlfriend.”
“Oh, flattery won’t work here, Keller,” she replied, eyes narrowing at him in a fake glare. She followed behind him once more, her red cape fluttering behind her as she picked up speed, a headband with a halo still in her clutches. It was the perfect antithesis to the headband she was sporting with red devil horns, matching her all-red ensemble and fake tail that peeked out from the end of her cape.
“Oh, come on angel,”—she had to bite back a chortled response at that, given he was the one in all white with a pair of angel wings to boot—“the headband’ll just ruin my hard work, and then I won’t be the perfect eye-candy for you.” At that, she didn’t hold back her chuckle, the noise followed by another shake of her head. At this point, he had all-but locked himself in a room to avoid her insistent hands, and Dylan was sure it was only a matter of time until he did so.
“ You’re the one who chose our costumes,” she reminded him, standing to one end of the couch while he stood at the other, her hands braced on the arm rest as she stared him down. She really couldn’t be mad at him, what with the beaming smile he was giving her. She had been weak to it (and his silly mustache) since the first time he had genuinely smiled at her after she had made some offhanded joke about another one of their neighbors. Seemed it still made her heart skip a beat after having been together almost a year at this point.
“ You wanted Shaggy and Velma, and I wouldn’t have looked good like that,” he was quick to retort, pouting at her.
“Hey, if Matthew Lillard pulled it off, you could have done it better!” she was quick to defend her decision, still hot on his heels. “You’re much more handsome than him.”
“ Now who’s the one resorting to flattery,” he drawled with another laugh, just barely shirking her arms as he ducked into the hallway.
She sighed in feigned exasperation, quick to follow behind him to what appeared to be her bedroom. Because of course he was leading her to her bedroom when she was in a pretty dress she let him choose.
“Alex, just put on the damn headband already before trick-or-treaters start showing up,” she groaned as she rounded into her room, her boyfriend already shying away at the opposite side of the bed.
And as if the world heard her, the doorbell rang through the air, only slightly muffled by the cheesy horror movie that played in the living room. She shot the man an unamused look as he continued to laugh in the corner of her room, huffing an exaggerated sigh as she made her way out of her room and to the front door, headband still in between her fingers.
Her ears picked up his footsteps following behind her, though very obviously at a more measured pace so as to avoid the halo in her hands.
This wasn’t over yet.
Dylan greeted the smiling children at her door, a bowl of the good candy now in her arms that had just been on the entryway table a moment ago.
She couldn’t see it, but she could feel the warm and loving gaze of her boyfriend on her. Couldn’t see it, but just knew that beautiful smile of his was on display. And just knowing it was there was enough to sway her mind from the headband in her hold. Only for as long as the door was still open though, because as soon as it was closed, she spun back around to him, seeing he had turned to watch the crappy movie on the screen.
Perfect—his attention was elsewhere now.
She set the candy bowl down as softly as she could, padding quietly towards him, hoping for a moment she wouldn’t trip and make a fool of herself.
Once close enough, she jumped over the couch, arms wrapping around his chest and grabbing him from behind as tight as she could, a sound of surprise leaving his lungs at the impact. Finally, she was the one laughing as she grappled him onto the couch, moving to straddle him and keep him down, his hands immediately going to keep hers from putting the damned halo on his head.
A futile effort, given how easily she managed to put it on him now that he wasn’t running from her and using every piece of furniture as a buffer between them. And with how he towered over her and very obviously sported a much stronger physique, it was apparent he allowed himself to be pliant and willing to her efforts though. Not that she was complaining, what with how his hands found her thighs once he’d given up on fighting away her hands trying to wrangle a headband onto him.
And now it was he who was weak to her smile, triumphant and bright and crinkling at the edge of her eyes in joy, the pretty dimples indented onto her cheeks.
“See? Handsome,” she spoke, voice full of conviction as she moved her hands to fix her own headband, having come askew in her efforts to tackle the man. He was quick to push her hands away, wanting to do it himself.
It was a moment of silence shared now between them, the only other sound that of the television as his hands rearranged the horns on her head, deft fingers fixing the stray hairs that came free from behind her ears. She breathed out a sigh of contentment, leaning into the hand that he kept on her cheek, his other hand once more finding its spot on her thigh, thumb absentmindedly running over her flesh.
“Beautiful,” Alex breathed out the word, mirroring the compliment she had given her, the syllables uttered so truthfully in a way that could have her believing anything that came from his lips.
God , how she loved the man.
“You sure we have to hand out candy? Can’t just sit here watching dumb movies and cuddling?” he then asked with a small pout, resulting in the woman letting out a chuckle.
“We can do that after the last trick-or-treater leaves the porch,” she answered, still smiling as she laughed at how desperate he was to just laze around.
She pressed a light kiss to his lips, and before he could even think to pull her in closer, the doorbell sounded once more. He groaned, though Dylan was quick to giggle at his expense, extracting herself from his hold and standing up. She held a hand out to him, and though he knew he wouldn’t need it, he took it regardless, standing up and following behind her as she grabbed the bowl of candy once more. He wrapped his arms around her, chin on her shoulder as she pulled open the door, the two of them greeting the gaggle of children at the porch who sang their choruses of Trick or Treat !
He could handle a few more hours of this if it meant getting to see how she lit up every time some adorable, costumed kid bounded up to them in search of candy. The same way he lit up every time he got to see her so at ease around him—nothing like how they had been when they first had met.