The late October breeze shifted leaves across the sidewalks and roadways, which were usually empty. But tonight, they were filled with children in colorful costumes and teenagers looking to make some trouble. It was Halloween. And every dressed up child that Casey passed made him regret where he was driving even more. Shiloh had somehow pulled him into going trick or treating today, which was nearly impossible for someone to do. The raven absolutely hated trick or treating and hadn't done it since he was around the age of ten. But, Casey just couldn't say no to Shiloh. Maybe it was his baby blue eyes, staring into whatever goodness was left in his soul. Or perhaps it was the simple fact that Casey was growing very fond of the boy. Their agreement was that they he would go trick or treating with Shiloh just as long as he didn't wear a costume.

But as Casey pulled up to the quaint second story house on the hill, he couldn't help have a hunch that he would actually be in a costume sometime today.

Inside the well-lit house, tittered the little Russian as he ran up and down the stairs numerous times. White bunny ears on a headband bouncing on his head as he hurried along; a white fluffy little pin on tail to go with them. Shiloh had been planning for this day and despite Casey's request to not even think about getting him into a costume. He just couldn't pass up the chance and made Casey a pair of black bunny ears and a fluffy tail too.  

He'd told Casey over the phone that when he got to the house just to let himself in, Since he was too busy doing a few not so important things, Like carving a pumpkin and getting a pillow case for candy. As Shiloh rushed around inside, Casey got out of his car with a sigh and went up to the door, letting himself in as told.

"Shiloh, I'm here!" he called, closing the door behind himself.

Just then, Shiloh slid across the floor from the kitchen door in puffy short shorts and a big grin on his face. "Oh I can see that mistah Casey." Shi giggled as he grabbed Casey's hand and pulled him into the kitchen from which he came from.

Shiloh and Casey had been friends long enough that Casey was used to being pulled around everywhere like a wagon by the boy. "Okay okay, I'm coming." he chuckled a little, letting Shiloh lead him into the kitchen where there were a few pumpkins with cute things drawn and carved into them. A bowl on the counter was filled to the brim with pumpkin guts and seeds.

"This one's you!" Shiloh pointed out as he dropped Casey's hand and picked up the bigger of the two pumpkins and held it up to him. Shiloh was far from artist material really, but it was basically a choppy outline of a stick figure with spike shaped things on it's head. "Do you like it?" Asked the pinky, enthusiasm sugar coating his words.

Casey looked at the childlike carving for a few seconds before smiling. He thought it was rather cute. "I love it." the raven chuckled a little. That was a bit of an understatement though, actually. Casey really did love it. He hadn't gotten a present in years, not even for Christmas, and it was even more special to him since Shiloh made it even if it was just a pumpkin. In fact, he wished that pumpkins didn't rot so he could keep it forever.

Casey's reply made the boy's face light up with a cheeky grin and rosy cheeks, He was so embarrassed whenever Casey actually told him that he appreciated anything that he did for him. And to be honest with himself, he really did love bringing a smile to his crushes face; He'd really go to any length to make Casey happy. "I'm so glad that you like it~" Shi peeped. Though while Casey was distracted by looking over the gift, Shiloh stealthily reached for the black headband on the table and held it behind his back. Taking a few steps closer into Casey's personal bubble as he looked up to him with a devious smirk. This probably looked like a lot more than it really was to Casey.

As soon as Shiloh got close to him like that, Casey looked over at him in suspicion. His little grin gave him away.

"Shiloh... what are you doing?" Casey asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Nooooothiiiing, what're you talking about?" Shiloh asked as he cocked his head, shifting on his feet.

With a little grin, Casey then put the jack-o-lantern on the table and tried to walk around Shiloh to see what was behind his back. Though Shiloh just evaded him by side stepping to keep at his front. "What is that, dude?"

"Pfff, it's nothing." Shi giggled quickly standing up on his tippy toes and snapping the band on his head. "Awwwe, you look cute."

Shiloh had moved too fast for Casey to see though. He took the headband off his head and looked at it, then saw the bunny ears. "Shiloh..." he sighed. Normally, he probably would have snapped that he 'was NOT going to wear this', but it was Shiloh, and he just couldn't say no. Impatiently, he put the black bunny ears back on his head. "Yes. I'm sure I'm adorable." he grunted sarcastically.

At first, Shi was nervous that Casey would have broken it or something; But after Casey's little remark he couldn't help but giggle a little. "Yes, you look so sooo adorable." The boy coo'd in response before he turned and snatched up his pillow case for candy. "Let's go now okay?"

Casey nodded and began to lead the way out to his car. "You're ridiculous, Shiloh." he said as he held the front door open for the white rabbit. The two of them walked down the stairs and got into the car, but once they did, Casey spoke again. "Hey Shiloh..." he began, starting the engine.

The boy leaned back into he passenger's leather seat and was sure to buckle himself in as the engine started with a low purr. Though the sense of hesitation in Casey's voice caught him off guard and he glanced over to him with curious wide eyes. "Yeah Casey?" He asked to the black rabbit who just looked over at him for a second, and began to pull out of the driveway.

"Why bunnies?" Cas asked, talking about the costumes.

Shiloh watched him a moment, then wet his lips to speak. "Because they're my favourite animal of course~" he sighed as he sunk into his seat. The question actually troubled him a little bit. The memory which grew so distant since Casey came into his life slowly scratched its way into his current thoughts; And it troubled him to a point that made him frown.

Of course, Casey saw that something was wrong, but he didn't get why. But just like Shiloh, Casey felt it was his responsibility to make Shiloh smile. Before speaking again, he gently brought the car to a stop at the end of the driveway.  "Well..." he began, thinking hard, "Bunnies aren't very cute when they frown.". The black rabbit then gave him a sweet smile, and reached over to pull up the corners of the white rabbit's mouth. "At least I think so."

Shi squeaked a little and pursed his lips before a little smile betrayed him. "Pfff, can't you see that I'm busy being sad?" He giggled with pooched lips.

"Well don't be. Today's a happy day. I even let you put a ridiculous costume on me." Casey laughed, smiling warmly. He wasn't going to drive again until Shiloh was happy though.

"Mmm… You're right, sorry." Shiloh sighed as his eyes fell half lidded and he couldn't help but let them set on Casey's lips. He loved it when his precious friend would smile like that, but most of all he just liked to look at Casey's lips in general. And it really wasn't much of a well kept secret either.

"Don't be sorry, just be happy." Casey said comfortingly, "Now let's go get some candy before those snot nosed brats get it all.". Retaining his smile, he pulled all the way out of the driveway and began to drive back into the city. And in that moment, he realized how happy Shiloh made him. Just for one second, he forgot about being heartbroken in the past, and watching his father hit rock bottom from being loveless, and perhaps believed for that one second that maybe, just maybe, love could maybe exist.

And in that little second, he admitted it to himself. He loved Shiloh.

The drive into town was a little long, But Shiloh was quick to cheer up once he'd potted the first trick-or-treaters. Halloween was one of his most favored holidays and I'm sure anyone could guess why. "Oooo, let's get out and walk? Can we? Can we?" Shi asked excitedly as he pulled his eyes from the window to look back to Casey with a big grin.

"Of course. Let me find somewhere to park." Casey replied, and pulled over to park in the parking lot of an ice cream parlor.

Of course Shiloh was the first out of the car though. Casey just got out of the car and followed his excited friend who spun on his heels and ran around the car to latch onto Casey's arm and pulled him down the street. There were a few groups of organized kids going door to door in silly costumes; and then there were the fewer groups of teens who just wandered about, some preying on the younger kids. Stealing their candy and such. But of course Shi didn't notice those unfortunate and dangerous bits, he was far too busy being focused on getting so much candy that he'd be sick.

And of course, if there was someone that would try to give Shiloh any trouble, he would be there to defend him. Though, when Shiloh took his arm, Casey's cheeks faded to a light pink. It was a little embarrassing, since people might think they were going out or something. But he didn't say anything however. Instead, Casey just got used to it. Maybe, if he was lucky, people would soon be right if they thought they were dating.

"Which house is first?" he asked, looking around at all the costumes.

Without a word, Shiloh just changed direction and turned down a pathway that led up to a decorated house with the light on. When they got up to the door though, Shiloh just held onto Casey's arm and glanced back up to him with puffed cheeks. "You knock."

Casey looked at him for a second, and just shook his head with a smile. He did as he was told though, and knocked the door. A rather overweight and shady looking man opened the door with a bowl of candy, giving the boy's weird looks as Shiloh stared intently down at the candy.

"Trick or treat!" Shi said excitedly as the man dropped some chocolates into his pillow case. But Casey noticed how shady this guy looked though, but he didn't say anything.

"Come on Shiloh, let's go get more candy." he muttered, not taking his eyes of this guy until him and Shiloh had completely turned around and went on their merry way. A few hours had passed and they soon came up to a park and Shiloh had insisted on taking a break on the swings to eat some of his candies.

So the two just took a moment to sit down side by side as Shiloh dug through his bag; plucking out a little homemade wrapped piece of chocolate and being quick to peel it back and take a bite. "Caseyyy, are you having fun mister bunny?~"

Casey chuckled and stole one of Shiloh's pieces of candy, "Yeah." And that was the truth. Casey was having fun running around with Shiloh from house to house, gathering candy, even though he DID feel really ridiculous being a bunny boy. With a grin, Casey popped the piece of red starburst into his mouth and gnawed on it.

Moments of silence passed before there was a little whimper that crawled from the boy's throat. The candy he'd been nibbling dropped at his dangling feet and his hands were cupped over his mouth—little scarlet lines drew themselves down between his fingers. Inside the discarded Snickers was a little razor blade; just waiting to be swallowed by some unlucky child.

When Casey saw the blood, he gasped and stood to inspect it.

"Shiloh? What happened? What's wrong?" he asked. The raven pried Shiloh's hands away from his lips and took his white v neck off to dab the blood away with it, then took it upon himself to wipe the boy's bloody hands.

Little spots of blood lined the inside of the boy's bottom lip where there were little cuts. Nothing too serious, but of course Shiloh was fighting back sobs and trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. "Th-there was something sharp in my candy..." Shiloh whined softly as he looked up to Casey who was babying him. "It hurts.. is it bad?" Shiloh asked, worried eyes glued up to Casey's intent and focused ones.

The raven stopped for a few seconds, and then sighed. "I knew it.", he grumbled, "That was a razor blade, Shiloh."
Casey patted the inside of his lip with the cotton shirt, and then put his hands on the boy's shoulders once the bleeding stopped. "...Are you ok?" he asked gently.

The boy just shook his head in response and just looked up to him with the white bunny ears folding back. "I guess.."

Casey just knelt in front of Shiloh with his hands on Shiloh's shoulders for a second, looking into his eyes. After a little bit of silence though, Casey realized that he didn't want Shiloh just for sex. He wanted to hold Shiloh, as his own. He wanted to give this boy happiness, and stick with him through dark times. It seemed so odd to feel like that even after only two weeks, but, after all they'd done, Casey was sure. Never before had he been so sure about anything. With Shiloh, he felt a childish happiness return to him that he couldn't remember feeling, because he was too busy taking care of his drunk father. The teen slowly moved his hands from the boy's shoulders to his plump, youthful cheeks, and gently took his lips.

A chilled breeze made its way through the park; blowing through their hair as they shared this moment. It'd really been what Shiloh had been longing for. Not just from anyone though, He only wanted to be kissed by Casey and him alone. I guess that this makes me gay huh? The little white bunny thought to himself as he timidly brought his arms up to wrap around his crushes shoulders. It was cold, his lips were chapped and bloody; but all that didn't really matter to him in the least.

There were butterflies fluttering around in Casey's gut as they kissed. Sure, Shiloh's lips were chapped and a little cut, but the caress of feeling his against his own was beyond what Casey could have imagined. The whole time, he could smell the sweet scent of strawberries on Shiloh and feel his soft sky blue and lime green fringe brushed against his face. Everything seemed perfect. But he kept the kiss brief, and softly pulled away; Leaving the pinky speechless with his lips parted and eyes wide. "Let's go home now." the black bunny suggested in a soft tone after a moment of silence.

"O-okay Casey, let me get my bag." Shi stuttered as he bent down to pick up the pillow case and then stood up- taking Casey's hand and intertwining their fingers. "I'm tired."

As he felt Shiloh's little hand intertwine with his, he couldn't help but wonder if Shiloh's heart was beating as fast as his was right now. There was a warm comforting sense in the touch, even if there were butterflies waging war on his stomach and his heart was threatening to pound out of his chest. The cold autumn weather wasn't helping either. "Me too. And cold.." he agreed.

Luckily, the two walked in a circle, so the walk to the car wasn't very long. The two walked in silence though, holding hands the whole way. Casey was just thinking, which was why he was so quiet. There really was no need to speak though. He was perfectly content with silence, so long as he spent time with Shiloh. The drive home was pretty quiet too.

Once they pulled into Shiloh's driveway though, Casey stayed sitting in the car. "Uh... Shiloh?" he asked before Shiloh had the chance to get out of the car.

"Yes Casey?" Shiloh replied almost instantly, as if he'd been waiting eagerly the entire time. "Would you like to sleep over?" Shi asked before Casey even had a chance.

The question made Casey smile. That was just what he was going to ask.

"I'd love to."