Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Paige
“It’s dark time, it’s dark time!” Deaton runs into the living room, his Thor cape flying behind him with his speed. He runs right up to his mom, yanking at her hand. “It’s dark, Mama! Time for trickers treating!”
The room falls into light giggles, and she bends, scooping him up.
“It is, baby, it is! Are you ready?” She eats up his excitement, allowing it to become her own.
“Yes! But I need to go get my pumpkin first. Don’t leave me, okay?”
Payton fights a smile as she sets him on his feet. “I promise.”
The little guy runs off once again, high-fiving Brady on his way, who comes into the kitchen flexing in his pajama outfit made to look like a Superman costume.
“I feel like I was born for this role.” Brady grins, his lips curving higher as Cameron comes around the corner in a matching Robin set.
He glances around at all our outfits, all of us matching as far as we’re wearing pj’s but each person is a different character.
“I think I’m gonna end the night with a new role-play kink. ”
“Of course you are, Big Guy.” Cameron pats his shoulder as she slides into the kitchen, snagging a cup and filling it from the big Gatorade jug Payton just got done mixing.
Chase and Mason come around the corner, laughing as they shove each other, fighting to be the first person to wash their hands.
“The wagon’s all good to go,” Mase calls over his shoulder. “Chase’s idea of adding the pillow with a stadium seat inside worked perfectly. The jug and cups will fit right behind it, and D can hop into the seat in front whenever his feet start to get tired.”
“Cool. I’ll strap it in now.” Brady grabs the margarita mixture and heads outside just as Deaton comes back around the corner.
“Ready!” He holds up the little pumpkin bucket he got with his Happy Meal this afternoon. When no one moves right away, he lifts a hand. “Well, come on, guys!” He smiles. “Let’s get the show on the road!”
Laughter breaks from everyone, and we do as the little man says—we get the show on the road.
Within a couple minutes, everyone is outside, the basket of candy for anyone who might come by while we are out is set up near the door, and we head off.
Deaton drags Mason to the first few houses, but after that, he’s got it all figured out and follows another small group of kids up to each door.
About ten minutes in, we’ve finally made it to Lolli and Nate’s house.
The moment Lolli opens the door, Deaton runs right in, and we almost laugh as the parents of the other little kids start to panic, but Payton smooths it over quickly, explaining she’s family and we’re picking her up along the way.
After passing out candy to those few kids, Lolli also sets a bowl on the porch and makes her way down to join us.
“I thought you assholes forgot about me!” she shouts, eyes trailing Deaton as he runs to the next house.
“How could we forget about you?! We even made you something special,” Cam teases, pouring her a cup from a smaller thermos I didn’t even notice they brought.
She walks up, already short of breath, long, dark hair pulled up in a ponytail. “If there’s no tequila in it, I don’t want it.”
“You’ll never know the difference.”
Lolli grins, taking the cup and hugging everyone hello.
When she gets to me, she squeezes. “Kind of annoyed you’re not staying with me this weekend, especially since Nate has a game and won’t be home until Sunday, but I hope you’re at least getting laid sleeping in Chase’s bed.”
“Lolli, what the hell?” Chase nearly laughs, but mine spills into her ear instantly.
I pull back, smiling as I look down at her “costume” pajamas. “Mrs. Claus for Halloween. Nice.”
She grins. “Meh, it was the only thing that made sense.”
“Can I?” I ask.
She nods, watching as I place my hand on her little belly, feeling how hard it already is.
“Not too much longer now,” I say as we start walking again, this time a little faster to catch up to the others a couple houses down.
“Four more months. I can’t wait to get her out of me. She’s so fucking heavy that I swear to god I feel like I’m gonna be the first person to give birth to a mammoth of a baby. I don’t know how Payton survived this. It’s terrible and not cute.”
“I think you’re adorable.”
“Yeah, well, you can still see your vagina, so…” She huffs, taking a sip of the drink Cam made and makes an appreciative face. “Not bad.”
“Thanks.” Cam grins, but it turns into a smirk when she faces forward and says, louder than necessary. “If anyone else needs a mocktail over a cocktail, it’s right there, ready for the pouring…”
A small frown forms between my brows, but I forget all about the comment when Deaton runs over with Skittles in his hand.
“Uncle Brady, look!” Brady promptly scoops him up. “I got a big candy! It’s the kind you like. You want to share some?”
“Oh, heck yeah, I do. But let’s put it in the bucket for right now, and see what else you can snag tonight, hmm?”
“K!” He kicks his feet, and the second they touch the ground, he runs back to the little group of kids we’ve been trailing.
“I can’t believe how big he is already.” Lolli smiles at Deaton, her eyes moving back to Payton. “Parker misses him like crazy, you know?”
Payton smiles at her son, nodding. “I miss my brother, too, but I’m so glad we got a permanent place on campus for the year. Being away from Mason…” She shakes her head. “Besides, my brother’s best friend is about to have a baby that he can spend all his free time playing with.”
“Please. What free time? The boy stays busy.” She smirks. “But, yeah. He might be more excited than I am,” she jokes.
The night carries on like this for the next few hours—easy, teasing conversations and honest interest between friends.
Mason and Payton walk with Deaton along the row of houses, swapping places with Ari and Noah every few blocks, while the rest of us trail them from the street, the sidewalks too busy with trick-or-treaters to tug the wagon along—and it seems the entire neighborhood had the same idea.
Families and friends pass us in both directions, offering quick hellos as they follow their kids around for the night. It’s nice, the normalcy of it all. I guess I never really realized how empty it felt, not having this.
It’s not even the excitement or the crowd, but the way everyone just belongs.
No second-guessing, no standing on the outside looking in.
It’s natural. Easy. And it makes something inside me tighten with this quiet ache, this low hum under my ribs that feels a lot like longing.
For this. For what it would be like to have this. To keep this.
My eyes slide to the man a few steps away, laughing and smiling along with his friends in his Red Power Ranger pajamas.
Sensing my gaze, those hazel eyes meet mine and that smile of his curves higher.
He winks, going back to his conversation, and one single thought draws to the front of my mind.
To keep him?
Deaton only made it to seven thirty before he climbed into the wagon and fell asleep.
Everyone headed back to the beach house, exhaustion setting in after the long drive and the last couple hours of walking around, but after Noah whips up some Philly cheesesteaks, everyone seems to get their second wind, with the exception of our favorite toddler, who is tucked away in bed.
A fresh round of drinks are poured, and then Mason turns the patio sound system on low as Brady lights the bonfire down in the sand.
Noah brings out some finger food, and I help Chase grab a pile of throw blankets from the hall closet, setting them on the outdoor furniture, just in case.
Ari and Brady play a game of songs, throwing out random words and trying to see who is the first to sing the line of a song after. Ari dominates, as expected. The night continues on like that, easy, fun, and random as ever.
And I just can’t stop soaking it all in.
I dreamed of this kind of stuff as a kid. Of large gatherings with deep-rooted friendship and family, with noise and food and just…beautiful chaos.
That’s what this group is—the best sort of crazy. The deepest form of friends.
Someone is always laughing or crying, teasing or fighting. They can read the room without a word and instinctively know where to enter or exit.
They don’t take no for an answer and live as one. Someone is happy? They’re all happy. Someone is sad, they’re all sad. Someone mad? You better believe they’re going to talk about it.
My first time witnessing the endless love and support these core five have was when Ari had her accident their freshman year at AU.
Every single one of them lived at the hospital with Noah.
Brady, Cam, Chase, and of course her twin.
At the time, I was still just “Noah’s friend Paige,” but it didn’t take long to become more.
Like Payton, I was welcomed into their tight-knit group with open arms and zero judgment.
Warm knuckles brush along my cheek, and I roll my head to the left, meeting the most disarming set of eyes—they’re really green today.
Chase tips his head, a tender, maybe slightly tipsy smile on his lips. “What are you smiling at, Angel?”
A gentle squeeze builds in my chest, soft and certain. It seems to be doing that a lot around him lately. “Just thinking,” I whisper, a little embarrassed being caught in this train of thought, by him especially.
“About?” He holds my gaze, and I get the feeling he knows, at least in a roundabout way, where my mind has gone.
A light blush heats my cheeks, but I let out a long exhale, my mouth tipping up slightly as I look from him to the others milling all around us on the raised back patio and below on the beach.
“This is what my dad always wanted for me,” I say.
“Friends like them and Friday nights like these. A place where I could fit, you know, and not just… I don’t know, tag along, I guess, but somewhere that felt like home. ”
I meet his eyes. Someone who felt like home…