Special thanks to Josephine Myles for making this story better.

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2 Special thanks to Josephine Myles for making this story better. Happy Halloween to all of our readers, and may the Great Pumpkin bring you a special Halloween treats. (C)Copyright Tam Ames 2011

3 Steven s eyes were starting to blur after staring at the formulas on the text book page for three hours. He had to get them memorized before the calculus mid-term tomorrow. The couch in the apartment he shared with two other guys was uncomfortable, but more comfortable than anywhere else in the place. He knew if he tried to study in bed he d just fall asleep. Derek was reading a book in the big chair, one leg slung over the arm bobbing to some internal rhythm only he could hear. I dare you. Steven blinked rapidly about four times and looked up at Derek. Huh? I dare you. Derek was always daring him to do something. To do what? Steven looked back at his textbook. There didn t seem to be anything dare-worthy there. I dare you to go to the Halloween party this weekend and make a move on Cory. Steven s breath caught in his chest. No one knew about his crush on Cory. Did they? He quickly ducked his head back down to study his textbook but the numbers were just a jumble now. He d met Cory last term at some party and the guy was gorgeous. He had curly hair. Steven coveted curly hair. It was a most perfect shade of brown and his eyes seemed to match. He wasn t that tall, just average, but then so was Steven. He was on the swim team though, and that meant a perfect body in Steven s opinion. He was also friendly, funny, nice and perfectly unattainable for Steven, who was average in every way, not just his height. I have no idea what you re talking about. I m not going anyway. I have a paper due in Organic Chem. Chicken shit. Steven gasped and looked up. I m busy. I hate parties and I m not wearing some lame-ass costume just to get drunk. You like him. Derek sing-songed. Fuck you. No, you want to fuck Cory. My God, are you twelve? You re insane. He s just a nice guy. Uh huh. You think I haven t seen you lusting after his ass? Steven s jaw dropped and he stared at Derek. Come on Steven, it s no big deal, he s hot. You should go for it.

4 Steven shook his head. Look, even if you were right, and I m not saying you are, he s not interested in someone like me. Jesus Christ you re oblivious. He s practically all over you whenever you re in the same room. Steven tipped his head to the side like a curious puppy. What? You must need glasses. He s friendly with everyone. Derek shook his head in dismay. How long since you got laid? Uh. None of your damn business. That long huh? Look, I ve seen him: he watches you, he tries to sit near you, he laughs at all your jokes, he wants you. Right. So why hasn t he said anything or made a move. He s shy? Derek shrugged, his leg swinging faster. So not shy. He walks up to total strangers and starts conversations. But talking with a stranger isn t asking someone out. Maybe he s got performance anxiety or something. Steven raised an eyebrow. No. Yellow. Don t be an ass. Derek made the sound of a chicken squawking. If there was one weakness Steven had, it was never backing down from a dare. He gritted his teeth. Fine. One condition. You come with me, you find me a costume and you find out what he s wearing. No prob. I know he s a vampire. You can be a vampire hunter shove your stake into him. You re sick. And you can t resist a dare as usual. Make sure I m the best man at the wedding. Fuck you again. Derek heaved himself out of the chair laughing. Ah, must go and plan. This is more fun than dissecting that cadaver last year. Great, my love life is slightly more exciting than a dead body, Derek muttered as he turned back to his text book. Could Derek be right? Had Cory been checking him out? Nah. But he d go to the party. He hadn t specifically said he d make a move, and spending time with Cory wouldn t be all bad. Even if he

5 ended up frustrated as hell and had to whack off alone in the shower afterward. He was getting good at that. *** This is the costume? Steven looked at the stuff lying on his bed. Yeah, it s very Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing. There were black leather pants, a black t-shirt and their other roommate Ivan s combat boots. Also from somewhere Derek had found a long duster coat, a floppy hat and a black mask. Whose pants are these? How do you know they ll fit? I borrowed them from a guy in my English lit class. He s about your size so I figure they ll fit. But if you trash them tonight you have to pay to replace them. And the coat? Um, you owe me forty five bucks. His mouth open, Steven stared at him. Excuse me? I had to rent it. Think of it as a down payment on a night of a hot sex. I don t have to pay for sex. How long again? Derek raised an eyebrow. Shut it. And get out so I can change. What are you going as? Pirate. Argh matey. Steven shook his head. Steven did admit that he had a Hugh Jackman air, a shorter scrawnier Hugh Jackman, without the accent, or beard, or chest. Fuck. Okay, he looked nothing like Hugh Jackman, but at least with the hat and mask you couldn t really tell it was him. If this all went down in flames at least he could slink out of the party without anyone recognizing him. When they arrived, with Derek s stuffed parrot shedding feathers in their wake, the place was already jammed. Music blasted out of oversized speakers and Steven had visions of the police showing up before long, but Derek dragged him into the house despite his protests. He continued pulling him through the throng of people into the kitchen. Finally he stopped and looked around. There were plenty of sexy whatever costumes on the girls and most of the guys went with the traditional outfits, vamps, more pirates and football players, who really were football players which seemed like a cop-out. A girl in a micro-mini nurse outfit quickly sidled up to him and ran her hand down his thigh. Ooh, leather, she cooed. That s hot.

6 Before he could reply, Derek grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away. Sorry honey, you re not his type. Too many X chromosomes. She tipped her head, mouth hanging open and stared at Derek. He made a sound of disgust and shook his head. No dick. Steven should have been used to Derek by now, but apparently he wasn t, because he blushed scarlet and closed his eyes. He was out on campus, but there was out and there was out. Derek was way out and made it his mission to ensure everyone else was as well. Nurse-girl smiled drunkenly at Derek. Well how about you Captain? Nice parrot. Derek rolled his eyes and Steven smothered a snort. Dream on. He pulled Steven to the counter where the drinks were lined up. Steven grabbed a beer out of the sink full of ice and twisted off the top. Gee, Derek. Never had a girl compliment your parrot before? Funny. So where is Cory? He took a huge swallow of his beer and felt his heart rate ratchet up. No rush. He did his best to look nonchalant. I m sure he s here somewhere. In one way he hoped Cory wasn t there, then he wouldn t have to do this and Derek had assured him that in order to win the dare, he did have to make a move on Cory. There was no way Derek would let Steven weasel out of it. On the other hand maybe. No, that was unlikely, but he hoped the costume would help hide his mortifying embarrassment when Cory laughed at him. Of course, that meant they would never be able to hang out together again, but he had a tough semester anyway. Two and a half beers later while wandering through the living room, Derek put his hand between his shoulder blades and shoved. He hissed Go get em, tiger. as Steven stumbled forward, beer sloshing over his hand. Someone grabbed his arm to steady him. Steven looked up to see an angel, no vampire, with curly brown hair. Warm brown eyes stared back at him from behind a sparkly mask and Steven s gaze couldn t help wandering down to the teasing glimpse of glittery chest on display. Oh God. Cory was Edward Cullen. How could he make a move on Edward Cullen? That was just disturbing. Um. Steven couldn t swallow; his mouth had gone so dry. Cory had on some kind of ruffly pirate shirt thing open to the waist, and the tightest black pants Steven had ever seen. He also had little fangs that peeked out as he smiled. You okay? Steven cleared his throat. Fine. He tried to shake his hand off without rubbing beer on the borrowed leather pants.

7 Here, let me help. Cory grabbed his hand and wiped it on his own pant leg. Holy fuck. He was touching Cory s thigh, and it felt freaking amazing. But Cory didn t know it was him, so he was probably just being a nice guy. Having fun? Steven shrugged and took another drink of his beer. Yeah. Me neither. Steven looked at Cory in surprise. Cory was always Mr. Social and had fun no matter where he went. Cory took a gulp of his red drink, which smelled like gin and something. Maybe Kool-aid. I was hoping to hook up with someone, Cory said, scanning the crowd. Figured. Cory obviously had a crush on someone of his own. Now there was no way Steven could go through with it. You don t make a move on a guy interested in someone else. It was some kind of etiquette. He d just lose the dare and save himself the embarrassment. Cory weaved a little on his feet and Steven frowned. Cory didn t get drunk very often, but he took another big gulp of the red stuff. I was told he liked me, but I guess they were wrong. Why was Cory telling him this? It was bad enough knowing he d never have him, it was worse to have to listen to him talk about another guy. He shrugged and thought of his conversation with Derek. Shy? Ya think? Cory s head was tilted and it looked like his body was about to go too. Steven gave him a little tug to get him vertical again. Maybe. He kept watching the crowd in the living room dancing and talking. Cory spun to face him. Steven reached out to steady him again. You re cute. Oh great. Now he was second choice to the guy Cory really wanted. Thanks. He tried not to look at Cory s lips which were redder than usual, probably thanks to the Kool-aid. Cory s shoulders slumped. You don t think I m cute do you? Cory was weaving again. You don t like me. Um, sure I do. Damn. Cory was drunk and going to regret this. A girl in a gypsy costume slammed into Cory and he fell forward, his red drink spilling down Steven s leather pants. Oh shit! He wasn t sure what Kool-aid could do to leather, but he needed to clean it off pronto. Oh crap. Cory started trying to wipe the pants down with his hands; running them over Steven s crotch and thighs. The pants definitely felt tighter, but somehow Steven didn t think it was the leather shrinking.

8 Steven grabbed Cory s hands and stopped their movement. It s okay. Really, I ll go clean them off. I ll come help. Cory staggered after him. Great. The last thing he needed was to be stuck in a tiny bathroom with a drunk Cory who was crushing on someone else, but Cory was bouncing off people and he couldn t leave him there. Steven grabbed his hand and pulled him along. He couldn t help notice the big smile on Cory s face, which confused the hell out of him. They found the downstairs bath and got in line behind two other people waiting. Cory leaned his head on Steven s shoulder. The guy was drunk. That was all. It meant nothing, and besides, Steven was still second choice after the mystery man. He may not be popular or hot or particularly smart, but he wasn t going to be anyone s consolation prize. Even Cory s. Finally they shuffled forward and it was his turn in the bathroom. Wait here. He tried to lean Cory against the wall. Cory struggled to stand upright. No! I need to help you. The girl standing behind them snickered. Make it fast guys. I gotta pee. He shook his head and pulled Cory in after him shutting the door. He noticed Cory locked it but he turned to grab some tissues, ran them under the tap and started wiping down the pants, his back to Cory. You really don t like me, do you? Cory s voice seemed small and sad behind him. Steven froze and then resumed wiping down his pants with a dry towel; they looked okay so he hoped there would be no damage. When he turned Cory was slumped against the door. Derek said you liked me, but I guess he was wrong. His brain sputtered to a halt. What? He made me promise to make a move on you tonight. But I don t want to freak you out. Cory fumbled behind him for the lock on the door. Finally Steven s brain started up again. What? Wait. You know who I am? Cory looked at him sadly. Of course I do Steven. No one has eyes like yours. I d recognize you anywhere. He turned to try and get the door unlocked. I better go. Sorry about the pants and whatever. Steven took the two steps across the room and put his hands on Cory s shoulders. Cory tensed. Steven encouraged him to turn around. Cory wouldn t meet his eyes, so he put one hand under Cory s chin and raised his face, taking away any choice in the matter. I like you. I like you a lot. I just thought

9 Thought what? Cory s eyes were blinking as if he was trying to focus, and he was still wobbling a bit. I thought you could have any guy you wanted, that you wouldn t want me. But I do. Cory launched himself into his arms, his mouth on Steven s. Steven couldn t believe it. He had Cory in his arms and he felt warm and wonderful and tasted like gin and cherry Kool-aid, which shouldn t have been hot but was. Suddenly Steven pulled back with a yelp. He wiped his mouth and they both looked down at the blood on his hand. I think we need to do something about those fangs, glitter-boy. He couldn t stop smiling now. Cory grinned back. I have to use some stuff at home to take them off. Someone pounded on the door. Come on, haven t you gotten off yet? They both laughed. Not yet. Steven yelled as he put his arm around Cory to keep him from bobbing. Let s get you home and get those fangs off. Then I can stake you. He waggled his eyebrows theatrically. Cory nearly fell over, he was laughing so hard as they unlocked the door. The girl elbowed them aside and shoved them out the door, slamming it behind her. You know, Cory slurred, We re going to have the coolest anniversary ever. Just how drunk was he? What do you mean? Halloween. His eyes were wide. Every year we can celebrate on Halloween. We should have a Halloween wedding. Everyone has to wear a costume. Um, yeah. We ll think about that. Geez, he was drunk. They hadn t even been on a date yet and everyone was thinking about weddings. I think we better go. Uh huh. Cory leaned his head on Steven s shoulder and let him steer him toward the door. Steven saw Derek across the room, sitting on some football player s lap, his parrot nearly naked now. Derek spotted them and gave him the thumbs up and a wink. He mouthed I win. Steven shook his head. Derek had definitely won this round, but he was sure the guy would come up with another dare soon. He always did.