Hayden Cleves

Tori's POV

"Where's Shawn?" I asked walking into the kitchen. Cole and Blake were situated around the table while dad and Lilly were still sleeping. Suzie was at Mark's house and I somewhat missed her crazy self. What did worry me the most is why Shawn wasn't home yet. Surely he didn't pull a hump and dump like Cali had said. Or did he?

"I don't know." Cole said folding a napkin in different squares. At first I thought he was answering my mental question but of course it wasn't like he was psychic.

Blake smirked, "He's probably tangled around in Em's bed."

I shook my head in disgust, "Your disgusting. Do you ever think of anything but sex?"

He didn't answer and I ignored his look while I just walked to the fridge to get some milk. "When will he be back?" I asked opening the milk. I went to the cabinet to pull a glass but they were all gone. I glanced at the sink and it was filled with dirty dishes and glasses. Then the dish washer had a glowing red light signifying it was in the middle of a wash.

"Well I can't exactly tell you because he won't pick up the phone." Cole waved his phone in front of us. I jumped on the granite counter and started drinking the milk from the carten.

"Ew don't do that." Cole said shaking his head and looking down at his phone. He started swiping his fingers across the screen and clicking on buttons. "Its bad enough Blake does that." He added not looking up from the small screen.

I shrugged pulling the milk away from my lips and wiping my mouth with my sleeve, "Oh yeah. I forgot he drinks from here too."

Cole looked up, his eyebrows narrowed is disgust. "Doesn't that bother you? I mean he's my brother and it still grosses me out drinking from the same carten as him."

"You two need to stop talking like I'm not here." Blake muttered stabbing his eggs with his fork.

I ignored him for the fun in it and looked directly at Cole. "Not really," I answered with another shurg of my shoulders, "I mean Blake licked that whole piece of pizza once and I still ate it."

Cole shuddered, "Yeah don't remind me. It was gross."

When I glanced at Blake it was the first time I had seen him looking this....awkward. Like he didn't know what to say. He was fiddling with a leather bracelt around his wrist and he had a ring on his finger. It was funny seeing a guy with jewelry. But when I glanced back to Cole I saw he had the same leather bracelt around his wrist.

"What's that?" I said pointing to Blake's bracelet. He gave me a cold stare like he was saying, Bug off. Yet if he really knew me he'd know I never bug off. "What is it?" I asked again.

"These?" Cole asked raising his hand to show the bracelet. I nodded and he chuckled, "Blake, Shawn and I have these. It just has our names engraved on them. Why? Did you never notice them?"

I shook my head, "No I just saw it right now. So Shawn has one too?"

"Isn't that what he just explained?" Blake asked stubbornly.

I ignored him. That seemed to be a usual thing for me. Ignoring Blake the god of the school. Everyone loved his attention, not me. If he suddenly gave me attention or acted differently and nicely around me I'd know something is wrong with him or he's sick.

"What about the ring?" I asked pointing at Blake's finger. "Is that a brother thing too?"

Blake started rubbing the ring between his fingers while Cole just looked at it. "Um...no." Cole said quietly.

Just from their expressions I knew exactly what they meant. Their faces were distant and hard. Pale as a ghost and eyes looking like they were going to flood with sorrow. It was that same ghastly expression I always had when someone talked to me about my mother. A pang of guilt hit me for ever asking what the ring was for.

I opened my mouth the say something but nothing came out. I wanted to say I was sorry. But over the years I had gotten used to that phrase all to well. It never helped. Some people think its to show their sympathy but to me...it was useless. No matter how many sorry's I got, it would never bring my mom back. When I finally found my words of what to say to Blake and Cole, we heard the garage door start to rumble tellig us it was opening.

The three of us started glancing at each other, knowing all to well who it was coming in. The door from the garage opened and Shawn walked in with a crazy smile on his face. "Good morning!" He sang like someone from an opera show. I could hear his voice bobbing when he said it and it was so high I put my finger to my ear.

To say I was a bit shocked was an under statement. When I glanced to Blake and Cole they both had wide eyes and unreadable expressions. Everyone knew Shawn was the funny one. He always did werid things but werid things that would make people laugh. At this moment it wasn't the werid that made me laugh. it was the werid that made me question why he was acting like this.

He twirled on his toes and grabbed a piece of toast from the toaster.

"That was mine." I said heartlessly. I could have cared less if Shawn had my toast but I didn't know how to react to this. He started humming a tune and randomly saying la la la.

"He's gone mad!" Cole whisper shouted to us. Shawn started walking towards the steps and danced up the stairs. While he walked in the hallway upstairs he started singing to Applause by Lady Gaga.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I have no idea." Cole said. I sat there staring at where Shawn had last been, my lips parted like my mouth was going to drop any second now. When I glanced at Blake he looked so still I wouldn't have been surprised if a pigeon came and landed on his shoulder.

"Blake?" I said to catch his attention but he was still frozen. "Blake?!" I reapeated and snapped my fingers under his nose. He shook his head and stood up so quickly the chair fell. Then he sprinted up the stairs jumping two at a time and screaming, "Dude how hard did you fuck her?!"

I stared at Cole not sure what to say."He only cares about sex doesn't he?"

"Who knows." Cole shrugged munching on toast.

"Shawn! Open the door!" We heard Blake yell.

I looked over at Cole and he looked at me. He swirled his fingers at the sides of his head signifying we were all crazy. Then he mouthed Shawn and made a circle with his fingers before putting his forefinger through the circle.

I gave a disgusted look and threw toast at him. He just laughed. "This house is going crazy." He remarked and went to grab some more toast. I let Cole finish his last piece of toast before we got up and headed upstairs to Shawn's room. When we reached the top we headed his room slowly walking to his roo .

"Shawn spill it!" I heard Blake shout as we got closer. Shawn mumbled something that I couldn't hear but it didn't matter because we reached his room. Cole allowed himself to just open the door so him and I could slip in without waking dad and Lilly up. Shawn was laying on his bed, a mini basketball in his hands as he threw it up in the air.

Blake was seated at the desk swishing back and forth his head thrown back as he groaned. "Just tell me!" Blake repeated. Shawn smiled and kept throwing the ball in the air, "Did you know elephants are large? It's true they are."

I stared at Shawn a full second, and Cole stood there at my side. Blake looked up at us and stared at Cole. What?! Blake mouthed confused on what was wrong with his brother. Cole just raised his shoulders and since Blake hadn't looked at me I didn't answer.

I walked over to the side of Shawn's bed and kneeled at the side. "Hey Shawn...wanna tell us your night?" I asked softly.

He just kept throwing the ball in the air and sighed contently. "Did you know that skittles are like the rainbow? It's true they are."

My eyebrows knitted together and I stared at Shawn. Cole moved in beside Blake and said nothing. Blake opened his mouth but Cole quickly clamped his hand over it. I tried to say something but my words were choked in my throat so I said the first thing that came to mind. "Shawn are you stoned?" I asked.

He shook his head which relieved me to at least have a reaction from him. I was used to seeing Shawn acting weird but this was beyond weird. It was ten times over the Shawn-O-Meter of Weirdness. The meter obviously went through overload and imploded.

Shawn sighed again, "Did you know unicorns poop out butterflies? It's true they do."

Blake stood up and came to my side where he grabbed Shawn's shoulders. "Dude! Snap out of it!" Blake took his arm back and swung his palm across Shawn's cheek. The noise made me flinch and sink down a bit.

Shawn dropped the ball in his hands. "Ow!" He shouted and stared up at Blake. "What was that for?! Dammit Blake that hurt!" Shawn started to rub his now red cheek. Probably trying to get the stinging sensation out.

"What happened last night? You sounded like you were in dream land." Cole stated.

Shawn frowned, "I like dream land. It's where my dreams run free and I can run in clouds and eat all the twinkies I want without losing my abs."

"Shawn I'll slap you again." Blake said. I wasn't sure if I would let him. The noise did give me a bit of a chill and it looked like Shawn was awake now.

"Fine." Shawn grabbed an extra pillow on his bed and hugged it to his chest. He looked up at the ceiling. We waited patiently and finally he started talking, "Well first she showed me around her house. Then we had dinner. After dinner we went to take her dog for a walk. Then I read to her until we both fell asleep. And finally this morning I woke up we had breakfast with her aunt and I came home afterwards."

I tried my best not to say, awwwww at that very moment. Even though it wasn't exactly specific it still made my heart jump knowing Shawn was sweet last night.

"That's it?" Blake asked slumping his shoulder, "That's the reason your so loopy this morning? So crazy? You didn't even-"

"What Blake is trying to say is..." I interrupted, "We're happy for you." I smiled at Shawn and he just smiled up at the ceiling.

Cole started biting his finger and put on a smile. His smile looked forced and unnecessary but he at least he tried. Even though he looked more nervous than happy, he tried. "Yeah it's great." He said his voice pitched an octave higher than usual.

Blake's lips twitched and the vein in his forehead was noticeable as it popped out and seemed to be moving as his pulse. "Yeah...happy." He said through clenched teeth.

When we left Shawn's room Blake stormed to his room muttering under his breath, "That was a waste of my time."

I found it funny yet sad that he wouldn't support his brother. I knew it was one thing to want to support your brother but Blake didn't even do that. He was to stuck up and self-centered. After leaving Shawn's room I decided to head to my room and it was funny because Cole followed me. I hadn't even thought he would but he ended up plopping himself on my bed while I went to my closet.

"So what do we do about Shawn?" He asked.

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Well he's so obsessed with Em." Cole added.

I laughed and turned to face him. "Your jealous aren't you?"

Cole layed back and grabbed Mr. Cuddles holding him above him head. "No...I just don't get how he loves her so much." I shook my head and turned back to my closet scanning around my clothes. "So what can we do today?"

"Um...I have to leave later today." I moved around the clothes in my closet and could practically feel Cole's eyes digging into the back of my head.

"Where?" He asked.

I shrugged, "Hayden asked me to help him look for a Halloween costume."

"Whoa what?" Cole sat up Mr. Cuddles in his lap as he stroked his head. "Your going on a date with Hayden?"

I smirked, "No I'm just going to hang out with him."

"Uh huh yeah right. In a guys eyes that's a date." Cole answered.

I shook my head, "Whatever..."

It was nice knowing Cole felt protective and all but I could take care of myself. I'm not a little girl. I literally handcuffed a guy to his bed. It wasn't like I was completely useless, I knew what I was doing.

"So where's he picking you up? Does he even have a car?" Cole asked with a devilish smile on his face.

"I assume he does and he's picking me up here. I said we were gonna practice in the back yard. He'll pick me up from there." I answered. When I finally picked a set of dark jeans and a shirt with a jean jacket. I turned to Cole, "He won't be here till six. What do you want to do for the mean time?"

Cole seemed to think. And think. And think. Finally he opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out for another second. "I honesly don't know what we should do."

"Let me get dressed and we'll figure it out." I waved him out of my room and he laughed and walked out.

LATER THAT DAY

We were all in the backyard it was Cole, Shawn, and I as we passed the ball around waiting for Hayden to appear. The air was colder now as it was getting closer to winter. Leaves were constantly falling to the ground due to the small wind that wracked them.

Now the green grass that was slowly dying, was being polluted by dead leaves. Whenever we'd step around, the leaves would crunch under our feet. Whenever we'd kick the ball around it would send some leaves flying or to move out of the way.

It was already starting to get dark. The sky was lit up in a purple allsuion with pink slowly turning into blue until you saw the night sky and the shimmer of stars. Dad had already gone to pick up Suzie from Mark's house and nowmshe and Lilly were watching some chick flick that I didn't feel like seeing.

"If he starts doing anything funny-" Shawn started to say before I cut him off.

"Guys, chill." I said passing the ball to Cole. "I can take care of myself. I handcuffed your ex-best friend to his own bed."

"Yeah but-" I cut Cole off.

"And I can flip a guy because I know self-defense." I stated as Cole passed the ball to Shawn.

"Ok we get it." Shawn smirked kicking the ball up and juggling. "Your just so amazing Tori. Whoo I mean just being in your presense is making me light-headed and dizzy."

I shook my head a smile on my face, "Your such a dick."

Shawn grinned while Cole laughed softly. "Hey lets play a game." Shawn said glancing at Cole. "We always played that game with Blake remeber?"

"Oh no. Not that game." Cole groaned.

"Yes that game." Shawn responded.

Now the curiousity in me was getting the best of me. I haven't played any games with the boys yet. And knowing they wanted to willingly play this game with me made me slightly happier. More accomplished even. "What game?" I asked.

Cole sighed and Shawn just kept grinning like a nut. Finally Cole just shook his head in approaval and glanced at Shawn, "Ok fine. Go ahead."

"Yesssss." Shawn said with a laugh. He looked at me and started explaining the instructinons. "So we'll kick the ball around and when it reaches you you have to say something embarressing. Usually we would play but we always knew what happens in our lives, meaning...this game got boring. But your a new family memeber and we're knew to you. So it should be fun."

It would be fun for them and possibly me but I would have to recap on my most embarressing days of my life. Although I would be embarressed revieling my thoughts, I knew the guys were doing the same so I nodded. "Ok. Shawn you first since you have the ball."

Shawn grinned, "The day we wore pink to the football tryouts. That was embarressing."

I laughed, "That doesn't count. I mean I knew that."

Cole chuckled, "It was embarressing."

"It doesn't count though." I smirked. "Come on. Make me laugh. You always do."

"Ok ok...hmm..." He thought for a second. "Oh I know. Ok so we were at this party right? And you know...cute girl. High dress. Got me going so I went in for the kill. Well we're in bed and she's all red because later I found out she was a virgin and she says, 'That's a nice little dick ya got.'"

I put my hand on my side and laughed. "Oh my god Shawn! What did you do?" Cole was pinching the top of his nose while he laughed also.

Shawn just shrugged, "I still got her laid. It hurt my ego though. I mean....I'm not little."

I kept laughing and then when I was out of breath I finally slowed my breathing. "Ok Shawn. I'm sorry but you are the youngest of the three therefor your little." Cole laughed harder and Shawn stared at me open mouthed.

"That's hurtful Tori." He said juggling the ball before passing it to me, "Alright you go."

I thought for a second. Going through the files in my brain and trying to figure out which memory was embarressing. When I knew which one I opened my mouth, "Ok so...when I was little I went through a one month obsession with Pokemons. So one day I dressed Mark up as a Pikachu and I had this red Pokeball and I threw it up and screamed 'Pikachu I choose you!' and Mark jumped out from behind me."

At the end of my story both Cole and Shawn were laughing so hard I thought their faces were going to explode with over laughter. Personally my cheeks were probably so red I could have resembled a fire truck.

"He is like your personal bitch." Cole said between his laughs.

Shawn just nodded in agreement. "How are you two not dating?"

The blood in my cheeks went down. At least they didn't laugh about my child stupidity. "We're friends. Period."

"Yeah we get." Cole said his laughs coming to an end.

"Your turn." I said kicking the ball to Cole.

He took it gracefully and thought it over. But before he could answer I heard a horn honk and we all turned to see a car parked in the driveway. Someone moved out of the drivers seat and I noticed it was Hayden. He wore a regular sweat shirt with a pair of jeans. His hair was combed to one side and he didn't look half bad.

Cole picked up the ball and walked to my side whispering next to my ear, "Whatever you do don't try the cat suit."

I slapped Cole's arm, "I'm not stupid you know."

"You were the one playing with real life Pokemon." Shawn answered nonchanantly. I glared at him as we started walking to the car.

Hayden greeted us with a smile, "Sup guys."

"I need her back at eight thirty sharp." Shawn said strictly. I rolled my eyes and Hayden raised an eyebrow looking between me and the boys. "She's helping me with math so I need her home by then." Shawn covered up.

Hayden smiled, "I'll have her back by then."

"Good. Because I know the captain of the soccer team." Cole said putting an arm around my shoulders, "And I can pull some strings and let him sit you on the bench for a couple games."

"That's blackmail." I slapped Cole's side. "Go away and let me leave in peace."

"Ok ok..." Cole and Shawn started walking towards the garage. As they walked away I called after them, "It's not over Cole! We're going to finish the game later." He turned around and flicked half of his middle finger at me so in return I stuck my tongue out at him.

I turned to face Hayden and he just raked his fingers through his hair. "Sorry about them." I said moving to the side of the car where I opened the passenger door and climbed in. "Do they hate me?" Hayden asked with a chuckle as sat in the drivers seat and turned the car on.

"No..." I rolled my eyes. "That's the first time they acted like that. It's dumb they make me feel like a-"

"Little sister?" Hayden filled in for me with a playful smile. It killed me a bit inside. Even though I wasn't blood related to the Trips I was now their sister. And if I wanted to get more technical then I'd say that I was a younger sister because they were born first. "At this pace," Hayden continued to talk as he backed out of the driveway, "You do seem to be getting closer to them. I wouldn't doubt it if they got a bit protective."

"Yeah..." My reaction wasn't much. I kept thinking over how sweet the boys were to be protective like that but they knew I could take care of myself. It was still unfair how I was forced to keep this secret. Did they not feel guilty? Shawn was lying to Em about me. Just like I'm lying to Mark and Cali. For sure Blake didn't care but Cole...maybe he was feeling guilty also. It just didn't add up to me. Did they not feel guilty that I was being hid. Was I really that bad of a secret? Maybe I was an embarrassment to them. Having a new dad and being their stepsister. Maybe it was all just embarrassing for them to admit it.

I hadn't noticed I was frowning until Hayden gave me a worried look and spoke. "Hey don't worry they'll back off. I mean your right. You can take care of yourself."

I looked over at Hayden with a small smile, "Can we just forget them for now? They're annoying enough when I'm around them."

A smile spread on Hayden's face, "Alright...so I was thinking we could go to that costume store by Target."

"Oh yeah I know that store!" I wasn't quite sure what the name was but I remember having memories driving by that place and looking at the costumes in the display. They had about everything there from skin suits to actual Hollywood costumes and makeup. "So what were you planning on being?" I asked.

"Well...its senior year. I wanted to go full out. That's what everyone's doing. So I need your help to find the perfect costume." He glanced my way sending me a heart melting smile.

"Ok I'll try my best but no guarantees." The next few minutes seemed to pass in silence so I decided to break the ice. "So why did you want me to come? I mean isn't Jack or some other guy better?"

"Are you trying to nicely say I don't have freinds?" Hayden teased.

I laughed, "No just...why me?"

He didn't reply at first. His eyebrows were knitted like he was thinking how to respond. Or what it was he had to say. "Well...I just wanted to get to know you. I moved here last year and I admit I've seen you in the halls or with Mark. I had a class with him last year. We even sat by each other, he always talked about hanging out with you. How much fun you two have." Hayden chuckled and continued, "One time I asked where he got that bruise on his arm. He said you got mad with him and threw a large nerf gun at him."

I smiled. Mark and I were close. Whenever someone asked who my best friend was he would instantly pop into my head. At the same time I was happy that Mark talked about me, I was disappointed in myself. I quickly set the disappointment aside trying to not get lost in thought again. "Yeah we're close," I said playing with my hands, "He's my best friend. We've been through a lot together."

"So I've been told." Hayden chuckled. "So what are you thinking for Halloween?"

"I don't know. Haven't put much thought into it."

"Are you going to the Trips party?" He asked.

"I don't know. Maybe. Probably yeah." I live there, I thought to myself.

"They invited the whole soccer team. So I was gonna go. People tell me its awesome. The Trips go full out with fog machines and they assign people to scare others. I don't know...that's what I heard." Hayden shrugged like it wasn't a big deal but in his eyes I could see the inner child that was crazy excited for this Halloween party.

"I heard they have buckets of candy. Each bucket has a different brand. Like one whole section is for Hershey and another section is for Wonka. And so on." It wasn't that I heard that but over the week the guys have been planning it out. They looked madly excited to be hosting this party.

"Really?!" Hayden asked a huge grin on his face as he looked between me and the road.

I couldn't help the smile. He looked so excited now. Like candy made his day and that now this party would be the best party in the history of parties just because they had candy. "Yeah that's what I heard."

"This is going to be awesome. Another reason I want to go full out." He looked ahead to the road like he was imagining what this party was going to be like. So I just looked at him think. A smile on his face and his eyes looking ahead. His eyes probably as dark as midnight itself. He held one hand at the steering wheel while the other was tapping on his leg. He noticed me watching and he glanced at me. "What?"

"You have a nice rhythm going there." I started tapping the palm of my hand on my leg along with the rhythm Hayden had.

He laughed softly and shook his head, "Why were you really watching?"

I shrugged, "Your so excited it's cute." I wasn't sure but it seemed that Hayden was blushing. His cheeks were a rosy red and he seemed stuck on what to say.

"Like you said I'm excited. Call me a little kid but no one can denie candy and chocolate." I had to admit he had a point. Dad would buy bags of candy just to munch on when he was in a good mood. But other than that he hated chocolate stating he'd get fat and wouldn't be able to chase criminals if they were on the run. Made me laugh everytime he'd say that and I would ask how many criminals he's chased down in the last month. He would stand there like a fool and then grab a twix heading to his room.

"We're here." Hayden stated as he parked across from the store.

"Already?" I asked undoing the seat belt.

"It's not far from the Trips house. Come on lets go." He got out and I followed after him. He opened the door for me to walk in and the first thing I heard was the crazy laughter of a skeleton with red glowing eyes. The store itself was filled with crazy R.I.P tombstones and skeletons that hung with a string. There were skeleton heads placed around the store and whenever you walked passed them they would say something that was meant to creep you out. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling along with spiders that were automated to move down a piece of string and move its legs around. Across the store there was one line where a ghost would swoosh through the entire store and over our heads.

The aisles were set so there was one section for decorations, then another aisle for make ups, one for Halloween arts and crafts, and finally the last aisle were all the costumes and changing rooms were located. At the desk you could find bags and bags of candy. The smell was slightly repulsive with so much fog on the grounds coming from the witch cauldron. Some skeletons would open their mouths and spill fog. It was these kinds of decorations that the Trips were thinking on getting. They were incredibly expensive for a Halloween decoration yet they buy it. And then complain on not being able to afford tickets to the game in December. What idiots.

"Now I remember why I never came here." I muttered a chill running through my spine.

Hayden chuckled and stood behind me, "Don't worry about. You go me." He winked at me before heading to the back of the store. It didn't seem like I had a choice but to follow him.

When we reached the back I saw a large room with clothing racks and costumes of every kind. There was a wall for wings, glasses, facial accessories, and any extra prop someone may need. It was split into three major groups. One group was for children, another for teens, and one for adults. Then each of the major groups was split into a section of either boy or girl. The best part were the changing rooms and how it was set up too.

There was a small room in the corner where you could change and a skull shaped couch was set up in front of the doors. A red carpet led into the changing room and fog kept leaking out from under the door.

"May I help you?" A middle aged women asked as she saw Hayden and I enter.

"No we're just looking around." Hayden answered.

"I do have two questions though." The place seemed significantly empty except for a couple adults in the adult section and a mother with her three children looking at the Superman costumes. "Why is it empty and it almost being Halloween?" I asked.

The lady smiled, "We have a seventy-five percent off sale three days before Halloween. Most people come around that time. And it's a Sunday, dark outside, most young children are in bed."

"Oh ok that makes sense. Now my other question is...how much does this store spend on fog machines?" The floor was barely visible and it seemed odd having so much fog.

The lady laughed, "A lot. A lot of money."

Hayden chuckled, "Thank you ma'am."

She smiled, "If you need help with anything please feel free to ask." She picked up a talking skull and walked off to the counter.

Hayden locked eyes with me like I was crazy, "How much fog machines?"

I raised my hands in surrender, "I was curious. I mean its everywhere. That lady is gonna get something in her lungs I mean this is just too much." I kicked at the fog on the ground and it emptied where I kicked but then swirled around leaving the newly exposed ground covered. "How much do you want to bet they had a roach problem and solved it by covering the floor up?"

Hayden laughed, "I don't want to imagine myself stepping over roaches thank you very much." He walked over to the guy teen section and I went to the wall of accessories. It made me laugh inwardly when I saw a pick feather boa and some sparkly glasses that had a sharp turn at the end. I grabbed the white gloves that would go up to my elbow and then the long black plastic cigarette. I took my jean jacket off and set it on the ground while I put on the gloves, wrapped the boa around my neck, and placed the glasses on my nose. "Hayden look at this." I called him over and he looked up from a rack of costumes. He laughed and I posed with the long black cigarette at the edge of my lips. "I think I can work this."

Hayden laughed harder, "Maybe you can."

I grinned and started unwrapping the boa. "So did you find anything?"

"One sec." He ducked his head down so I couldn't see but when he came up he had a old gangster hat and a pair of dark sunglasses. "If you do not bring me de money," He said in a rich Russain accent, "Then you shall disappear without a trace."

I laughed, "That's something alright." Hayden was a funny guy. He seemed sweet too and he obviously liked making people smile. He seemed peaceful, I've never seen him angry or mad. At least if he'd ever gotten mad I would have never noticed.

"Ok but I did find something." He pulled out some knight costume and grinned, "You could be the damsel in distress."

"Ew gross." I shook my head and walked to his side putting the costume back. "No because being a damsel in distress entitles a dress."

"So?" Hayden asked.

"I don't do dresses."

"But-"

"Especially the kind that involve corsets." I locked eyes with Hayden and raised both my eyebrows testing him if he has the guts to say anything else.

"Ok you win just stop looking at me like that!" He teased raising his hands between me and him. "I feel like your burning into my soul."

I shook my head a small laugh escaping, "Your so werid. Did you ever think of being normal?"

"Nope. Normality is overrated."

I decided to go over to the teen girls section and I scanned through the costumes. They were all either dresses or too revealing and it was starting to cause me stress. This was another reason I had decided about five years ago that I would make my own costumes.

"Did you find anything?" Hayden called from the other side.

"No. Just another stupid dress thats suppose to make you be a medieval princess." I groaned.

Hayden laughed and I kept looking through the different racks. "Ok I really need your help. I can't find anything." He said after another five minutes.

"Yes take me away from this sexism." I muttered and walked around to the guys side.

"How about I let you pick?" Hayden took a step back and stood behind me observing what I was doing. I flipped through everything and then smiled pulling a green and brown costume. "Robin Hood is awesome." I held the costume in front of me letting Hayden examine it.

He put his hand on my mind and lowered my arm looking directly at me. "He has tights."

I laughed, "Leggings." He gave me an unconvinced face and I pushed him towards the changing room. "The leggings are under the long green shirt and dark vest. I'll get the bow and quiver. You have the whole thing there except those two things."

He groaned but grabbed the costume and walked into the changing room. "Fine but if its humiliating I'm putting it back. Oh and," He turned to face me and stretched his hand out, "Give me your phone."

"Why?"

"So I know you won't take pictures of me if it is humiliating." He waved his hand over telling to hurry and give him my phone.

"Fine but give me yours." I pulled my phone out and he did the same. We handed them over and he walked into the changing room. I went to the props and looked through the different items before coming across a bow and quiver set. Beside them were a set of arrows that went perfect with the bow. "This store has everything." I muttered under my breath.

I went back to the changing room and knocked on the door, "Hayden I have the bow and stuff."

"Ok." He opened the door and I covered my mouth not to laugh. He was right, they were tights instead of leggings. But he was shirtless so I wasn't sure if it counted. I stared for a second scanning his body. I couldn't say he didn't have a nice body but the tights still made me want to laugh. "What?" He asked.

I tried incredibly hard not to laugh and sound werid at the same time. But while I talked a couple laughs escaped, "You look like those gymnasts from the circus."

He shook his head, "I told you! It's humiliating. "

"Try on the rest and I'm sure it'll look better." I pushed the bow into his chest and he grabed the rest.

Before going back in the room he muttered, "I'm picking your costume."

I sat down on the skull shaped couch and layed back. It was a comfy couch but I didn't know what to do while I waited for Hayden to come out. I would have taken my phone out to play a game or check for messages but I didn't have my phone. Instead I pulled out Haydens. When I made the lock screen appear it showed he had a password. I didn't know the password so I decided to lock his phone. It showed one minute and when the minute passed I locked it again. It said five minutes but when it reached three minutes left the door opened and I looked up.

"So what'd you think?" Hayden asked as he spun around slowly. He had the dark tights on, and the large leather boots went up to below his knee. under the leather vest was a green shirt and he even lifted the hood on the vest to cover his head. The quiver was holding some of the arrows and his bow was in his hand. The belt around his waist had a pouch that could be filled up with coins. His wrist had some bands around them and in a way, he did look like Robin Hood.

I smiled, "You look great. Like seriously you look like Robin Hood."

Hayden raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?" He looked down to examine himself, "The tights are still bothering me."

"Well," I stood up and circle around him, "If you think about it guys wear soccer and basketball shorts and those fully expose your legs. So technically tights aren't all bad. Plus this shirt," I grabbed the green sleeve on his arm, "It goes down beyond your bottom. Your good."

Hayden chuckled, "Ok I'll take it. Let me go back and change and then we'll look for your costume."

"Oh jeez..." I walked back to the girls section and flipped through the different costumes. It wasn't long before Hayden came out, holding his costume in hand while I kept looking around.

"Did you find anything?" He asked skimming through the choices.

I shook my head, "Nope."

He grinned and kept going through. I was hoping I could find something before he did. That way I would at least know I had chosen something that was sexist. Although I highly doubted Hayden was sexist I just didn't have the guts to see what he had in store. "Found it." Hayden pulled out the costume an evil smile spread on his face.

"Nope. I am not wearing that." I said shaking my head.

"Oh come on. It's like the only one with pants. I mean they're leggings but it has the red top with a hood. It should be fine." He started pushing me to changing room and now I felt like our positions had changed.

When I walked in the changing room I inwardly groaned and stared at the black leggings and fire red top. It wasn't that bad but it definitely wasn't something I'd wear. I sighed and started to undress and put the costume on. The red top was short sleeved so I'd probably take some jacket if I got cold. It had a hood with horns and ended at mid-thigh but the shirt was shredded from there to my waist. Then my leggings had my tail with the arrow end. It wasn't that bad of a devil costume, I've seen worse but I couldn't believe this is what Hayden picked. He was right though, it was better than those other costumes they had.

I walked out the door and Hayden sat there on my phone. He looked up and smiled, "It's not that bad."

"It's horrible." I groaned.

"Nah. I mean you can have that or the corset." He smirked and I glared at him.

"Why can't I just be in a dark cloak like I planned." I asked.

"But you look good. Seriously Tori. It's cool. Either way you have three options. Go with the boring black cloak. The boring Katniss outfit. Or the actual fun costume." He  tried to give me an encouraging smile. His smile felt irresistible at the moment so I sighed.

"Yeah alright...but I'm getting that pink boa." I walked back in the dressing room and changed back to my regular clothes. When I came out Hayden was waiting for me at the end of the room already ready to pay. I quickly went to the accessories and grabbed the pink boa and my jacket which I had left on the ground. I slipped my jacket on and rushed over to Hayden.

"Ready?" He asked holding my phone up. We quickly switched phones again and I made sure he hadn't locked me out.

I nodded and we both headed to check out. While he payed for his costume I looked at the different decorations and then turned to face him, "How much do you want to bet that the guys are gonna come here for the seventy-five percent off sale and get some of these decorations?"

Hayden thought about it for a second while the lady handed him his bags. "I don't want to bet because it's probably true."

I chuckled and put my items on the counter while the lady zapped the pricetags. When we were done paying we headed towards the exit. A cold blast of air hit me when I walked out and chills ran down my neck and spine. "It's cold. How's it cold? It's only October." My teeth chattered and Hayden chuckled putting an arm around my shoulders and leading us to his car. It felt nice being incubated in his side.

It was incredibly dark outside with clouds in the sky making the stars invisible and the moonlight to leak through the small cracks and crevices of the clouds. When we were inside Hayden's car he quickly turned the key in the ignition and turned the heat up.

"I hate this place." Hayden chattered rubbing his hands in front of the heat. "Where I used to live we had one temperature. Cold. But here? No. Here its freezing cold one night and hot as hell the next night."

"Yeah well today it's freezing." I layed back in the seat enjoying the warmth sweeping through the car. Hayden was already pulling out of the parking spot and driving onto the road.

It was one of these moments where I'm in the car, its dark outside, and I feel myself slowing coming in and out of consciousness. One moment I'm watching the lights outside and the next thing I know is I feel like I just took a nap.

"Hey Tori," Hayden whispered, "Do you want me to leave you at your house? Or at the Trips?"

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, "The Trips. I'll drink a coke, help Shawn, and get Cole to take me home." Hayden nodded and I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Sorry for practically falling asleep."

Hayden smiled, "Don't worry. It's kinda cute when your asleep."

Maybe if I had been fully awake I would have blushed but right now my head was foggy and I didn't have the brains to concentrate. But it still made my heart skip a beat. "I had fun today." I told him as I faced his way.

He parked the car and I realized we were at my house. Well in this case the boys house. Hayden didn't face me yet and I worried I had said something wrong. But then he looked at me and he seemed somewhat sad, "I like you Tori. I really do. And I'm not like Trent. I really really like you."

My heart felt like it had stopped. I just wasn't ready for a relationship. At the moment everything was complicated and scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle. I had the boys as my biggest secret and just all the things in my life. But mostly the boys...they were something I just couldn't deal with. I looked down at my hands my fingers playing around each other. "Hayden...my life is kind of complicated right now...maybe...maybe when I figure everything out ok?"

Hayden nodded looking ahead at the house. "Could I ask you something?" He didn't wait for me to respond he just asked away, "Will you go to homecoming? With me?"

At first I hesitated. Not because of Hayden but because I don't like homecoming. I knew I had already gotten the dress with Cali but it just wasn't my sort of thing. It crushed me though. Hayden was such a nice guy. He definitely didn't act like other guys I've met. So I smiled, "I'd love to...on one condition."

Hayden smiled the biggest smile I had seen on him all day. "What condition?"

"I meet you there. At school." This way he didn't question if he had to pick me up at the Trips house. I decided to quickly cover it up, "That way I have time to figure out how to use mascara."

Hayden laughed gently and nodded, "Alright alright. I'll meet you at the game and the dance then."

"Ok," I took my seat belt off and leaned over to kiss Hayden's cheek, "Night Hayden."

His cheeks flushed yet he still had that smile, "Goodnight Tori. I'll see you tomorrow."

I slid out of the car grabbing my Halloween bags with me and walking up the steps of my house. The moment I knocked the door flew open. "Your late." Shawn crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It's eight thrity one. I said eight thrity."

I rolled my eyes and turned around to wave bye to Hayden as he drove away.

"Tori's back!" I heard Suzie yell from the inside of the house.

I rolled my eyes yet again walking inside and heading upstairs. "No dinner?" Lilly asked from the kitchen.

"No I'm tired. I'm just going to go to bed." I called after her while walking upstairs. When I reached my room I collapsed on my bed only to hear footsteps outside my door.

"How'd it go Tori?" Cole asked from the doorway.

"It was nice but I'm tired and I'd like to go to bed if that's alright?" My eyes were already closing on their own accord.

"What did you two do?" I heard Shawn ask.

"Did Tori finally get fucked?" Blake asked as he stood with his brothers.

"No Blake but did you know there's more to life than sex?" I retorted.

There was no answer and when I opened one eye I saw he wasn't standing there with Cole and Shawn anymore. "Ok Tori we'll let you be." Cole grabbed Shawn's arm and moved him out the door. "We have school tomorrow lets go man." He said to Shawn as they headed out the door.

It wasn't long before I was in my fuzzy pajama pants and I had a sweatshirt to sleep in. Just before falling asleep I remembered I had to talk to dad but told myself I'd talk to him later. We used to be close, extremely close, but Lilly filled in a gap he had. A gap longing for a companion. I just needed his permission to do something, and I needed his credit card and assistance.

Even after I thought of my dad I kept thinking of Hayden and how he had asked me to homecoming. Out of no where the image of Mark appeared in my head. I saw him smiling at me like he always did but the smile seemed familiar. It remeinded me of Hayden's smile. My head was confusing me and when sleep finally overtook I was relieved to know that it was a dreamless sleep where I could just gain rest and not worry about anything.

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I hope you all enjoyed it :) If you did like it please vote and comment. And thanks for all those people that wait for the uodates and haven't forgotten of this story. I'll try to update soon. See you next time. Love you guys <3

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