bonus.) till death do us part

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ruby

"It's times like this that I wish my hair wasn't black, so I could just temporarily dye it." I complain, pinning the indigo wig to my head. Joe walks into the bathroom, his hair completely sprayed black and parted very awkwardly in the exact middle. He's been complaining for months about it being too long, and I managed to get him to postpone cutting it until after Halloween, just for the sake of my costume idea.

I'm a stickler for matching costumes and lucky enough for me, Joe doesn't mind them. He also gave me full creative reign when coming up with them, not giving any input about them at all. It was an immense amount of pressure, trying to make absolutely sure that he wouldn't despise my idea, and thankfully, he hadn't.

I look in the mirror once more as I place the long tattered veil on top of my head. Joe walks up behind me and smooths it out as much as he can. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows." He mutters right next to my ear as he reaches down to hold my hand that is painted like a skeleton. I smile, briefly looking down at our joined hands as my boyfriend continues quietly. "Your cup will never be empty, for I will be your wine." I half expect him to whip a wine glass out of nowhere, or even Caspar to throw one recklessly into the room. "With this candle, I will light your way in darkness." Once again, I am clouded with disappointment when a candle didn't fly through the open door.

There's the smallest moment of hesitation until the next line as Joe kisses my jawline softly before just barely breathing out, "With this ring, I ask you to be mine." He slips a small golden band on to my ring finger, and I try not to think too much about a deeper meaning.

Here we are. Emily and Victor Van Dort from nearly the best Tim Burton film, The Corpse Bride. Joe didn't even remember if he had ever seen it when I brought it up, but I have since then made him watch it at least ten times. It was a good excuse for me to get to watch it as well.

"Look at you." I laugh. "I didn't except you to learn the vows."

"Anything for you, my love." His voice is almost an exact replica of Victor's, and it momentarily gives me chills. He smiles over my shoulder in the mirror.

"Are you going to make me talk in a British accent all night?" I tease, my voice going slightly higher as I mask my old American accent with an English one. "I doesn't suit me very well, now does it?" He eventually bursts with laughter after trying to hold it in.

"We'll work on it." He grins, poking my stomach right below the tear to make me laugh. "You're still the best Emily I could ask for." I turn to kiss him quickly before stepping out into the bedroom to slip the heels on. I look down at my painted skeleton leg and foot and immediately pray that the makeup doesn't come off there or anywhere else on my body, in fact.

I'd spent almost all day painting my arm and leg, as well as the rest of my skin although that was only a fraction as hard as the bones. I have a piercing retainer shoved in my nose, and I'm still not used to looking in the mirror without seeing the nose piercing. It's been a few years since I've worn contacts, which was for another Halloween costume. I still remembered how to put them in, though it wasn't anymore painful from the first time except I wasn't scared to put them in, there was just someone who kept poking me and prodding me while I did so.

"Are you ready? I think Conor is waiting downstairs." Joe's voice comes from the bathroom, and I quickly peek inside to see him rubbing at the dark circles around his eyes for the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes.

"You're going to smear it." I tell him for also the tenth time, as well. He very sarcastically rolls his eyes and walks out of the bathroom, kissing my forehead as he passes me. He grabs my hand, and we trail out of the bedroom and up the stairs.

"We could've made Caspar dress up like Scraps, just saying." I mutter as I catch sight of Caspar standing with Oli and Josh in the living room. Oli is dressed in a nice suit - nicer than Joe's - and is holding a fake gun in the pocket on the inside. "I swear to God, if you're trying to get off easy and say you're James Bond, you have failed miserably at this whole Halloween thing." I joke, laying down his collar neatly in the back.

"Not all of us have this much effort for Halloween, you know?" He laughs back, gesturing to my full apparel. "Like how many hours have you been getting ready for?"

"Too many." I answer, pulling up the sides of my dress to sashay around my legs. "It took me hours just to cut this dress right."

"You look beautiful, though." He replies, smiling at brightly which I return.

Josh and Caspar went just as out as Joe and I did, only they were about ten times spookier than us. Being from America, the whole killer clown thing is kind of a bigger deal for me than it is for all of them. Story cut short, they were absolutely terrifying to me but also really fucking cool. I've never been scared of clowns; sure they are creepy as all get out but they don't scare me.

"What are Conor, Jack and Mikey?" Joe asks, his voice still quiet and dainty until it cracks mid-sentence and he chokes momentarily. "Yeah, that's not happening all night." He coughs.

"We'll work on it." I say in a singsong voice, immediately getting ready to avoid whatever he does to get me back. He reaches out to grab me around the waist, and I pull away from him, almost dropping my bouquet of dead flowers in the process. There's a knock at our door that makes me stop and look, but Joe takes it as an opportunity to grab me and tickle me. Hysterically laughing, I can barely see Caspar going to get the door and the remaining three boys walking in. I hear myself snort three or four times before I'm able to wiggle away from my boyfriend and punch his arm playfully.

Looking back at the others, I notice immediately that Conor got his way with what he wanted to do with Halloween, and I honestly can't believe that Mikey went along with it. Conor told me ages ago when we were planning Halloween together that he wanted Jack to dress up with him as Mario and Luigi. I see now that Jack had other plans, but he did have Mikey. I almost immediately break into laughter but am able to contain myself, until I look closer at Jack.

He wears the most disgusting sweater I think I've ever seen and slightly baggy pants with a pair of oversized Jordans. I don't really pick up on what he is until I see his hair smashed flat on his forehead and colored completely brown, and the small eyeliner freckle under one of his eyes. In his back pocket is a cheap blow-up microphone. He is Conor Maynard, and it's the funniest thing I've ever seen.

"What a lovely corpse bride." Conor coos, tipping off his bright green Luigi hat.

"I wish I could say the same about you." I respond, jokingly. "Yours on the other hand..." I turn to Jack, trying not to laugh again.

"He already prides himself so much on that. Don't give him more credit." Conor scolds, throwing his hat at his younger brother, who laughs and catches it clumsily.

~

After about ten minutes of everyone bragging about their costumes - and Joe announcing that his was obviously the best because he had me with him, which all the boys agreed to in the end - we were finally in the back of Oli's car singing songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas. We were on our way to some Halloween party that I have no idea who is hosting or where it is. Oli just invited us along saying that there was no way he'd go by himself.

"Things are about to get spoopy." I cheer excitedly as we get closer and closer to the party. Joe laughs beside me before placing his forehead to my shoulder.

"Please don't ever say 'spoopy' again." He begs, chuckling as he does so.

"Much spoop, Joseph. So much spoop." I reply, poking his thigh with every word. He groans in exaggeration, and I laugh in response. "I'm sorry, am I too... spoopy for you?"

"Oli, can you unlock the doors so I can throw myself out of the car?" Joe whines into the front seat.

"Nope, you're stuck with me, babe." I burst his imaginary bubble and grab his hand. "Till death do us part, right?"

The brunette looks up at me as serious as I've almost ever seen him as he kisses me quickly but extremely knee-weakening. "Till death do us part." He agrees.

stars || Joe SuggWhere stories live. Discover now