A warm blush spread across Adriana’s face at Matthew’s compliment. Having him home felt natural as though no time had passed between before he left and now. And yet, she still could feel the guilt from how things had ended bubbling up inside of her. The werewolf did her best to suppress her urge to run from him, at least for this one night. 

At the suggestion that they gave them more to talk about, she was slightly hesitant. A few seconds passed as she stood staring at his hand. “For old time’s sake,” she agreed, her voice softer than usual. Placing her hand in his, she could have sworn that her heart had skipped a beat. Her nerves were going to get the best of her, that much was clear. She wrapped her fingers around his to form a tight hold and then lead him to the dance floor; the sound of her heels clicking against the floor was barely discernable from the volume of the bass in the song playing. “I can’t tell you the last time I actually danced, let alone danced with someone else,” she murmured. At first, she was rigid, swaying a bit along to the beat. Her body felt tense. Was it nerves? Fear? Perhaps just a general lack of rhythm? Only time would tell her. “Thank you for agreeing to go with me, Matt. I know it’s probably not the most comfortable thing to do, given our circumstances.” 

-

Even after all the years that had passed between them, Matthew still felt at ease around the werewolf. He felt as if he still knew her, as if no time had passed at all. There was a huge part of him that was scared he would cause her to run off again...she was quite the track star when it came to running away.

He saw the hesitancy at his request and for a moment he was afraid he had pushed too much, too soon. A smile quickly pulled at the corners of his lips as she finally agreed, slowly he closed his hand around hers as she led them to the dance floor, “I think the last time I danced was with you,” he started. He hadn’t really had the time to dance with the whole building his business, his only other love. He felt how tense she was against him, was she scared? “You can relax with me,” His hands pulled her closer towards him, “It is though,” he muttered out quietly, “It feels natural...being here with you..I mean, like good friends.” There was still a lot of love for Adriana in him. “Thanks for asking me..I wasn’t going to come if you hadn’t, too much work left to do.”

@matthewclarkson​

Adriana had skipped the Monster Ball since becoming a mother. It didn’t feel right leaving Gianna behind to have a night of drinking and dancing. Hell, she didn’t even plan on going this year until one thing changed - Matthew Clarkson was back in town. There was a sort of excitement bubbling in her chest that she hadn’t felt in a while. This was the opportunity for her to rebuild a friendship, or maybe even something more.

She felt a touch of embarrassment at her own costume; not that she looked bad, but she couldn’t remember the last time she had worn anything quite as revealing. Perhaps the adult take on Jasmine wasn’t the most appropriate choice. The anxious feeling seemed to wane as her eyes settled upon Matthew in his tiger costume. A small chuckle slipped from her lips. “You look…” Adriana paused for a moment, struggling to find the right words. “Cute. Very cute.” She then slowly moved closer to him, so as not to startle or catch him off guard. Leaning a little bit closer, the brunette placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. “I’m wondering how many people are going to find entertainment in our matching costumes. You know how much the old ladies in this town love to gossip.”

-

In all honesty, Matthew had  decided he would pass on the ball. It wasn’t like he’d been going the last few years, plus he had a lot of work he could do on his house, but then Adriana and him had decided to go together. And suddenly there he was dressing up a cute tiger costume to match his ex. 

A smirk pulled at the corners of his lips as she commented on how cute he looked, “Thanks,” he replied snaking his arm around her waist as she placed a kiss on his cheek, “You look absolutely gorgeous as always, Ads. A perfect Jasmine.” A chuckle escaped from his lips, “Should we give them more to talk about?” There was a glint in his eyes as he spoke, “Dance with me? What do you say for ol time’s sake?” As he asked he moved away from her, only to extend his hand out towards her.

@matthewclarkson

​

Camille hadn’t expected to confide in her neighbor as much as she had, but Matthew had been amazing when it came to her adjustment over the past six months. To know that there were other humans in Halloweentown had lifted a weight off of her shoulders that she didn’t know she was carrying. Feeling like an other in this town was beginning to get exhausting and it was clear that some were a bit hesitant about letting her in. After all, she had arrived pretty much unannounced with Lily. Because of Matthew and her roommate, she had been able to get her feet underneath her. For that, the woman would be forever grateful. 

It didn’t take long for Camille to notice Matthew when she had arrived at the gala, decked out in his costume. She had decided to come as Rapunzel, an idea taken from her four year old who had responded rather enthusiastically to the whole thing. They had been watching Tangled when the little girl had reached up and pointed to tell her that you look like her mom. Camille’s heart swelled at the thought of the conversation, but she soon found herself focusing on getting her friend’s attention. “Hey neighbor!” She called out, certainly feeling the character take over as she made her way rather gracefully along the party that was slowly beginning to pick up. 

“Isn’t this incredible?” Her gaze wandered around the room for a moment before focusing back on him. “And look at you.. you’re..” Her smile was a bit awkward as she tried to imagine what character he was. If he had come with a date, maybe she would have been able to put the pieces together, but she couldn’t seem to find anyone nearby. 

“Hey there!” Matthew let out a chuckle, “I’m a tiger...Rajah from aladdin to be more specific,” he didn’t really expect anyone to know the specific character he was without his Jasmine alongside him. “It is incredible! I can’t believe all the work they put into this,” he commented letting his eyes run over the place before settling back upon his neighbor, “Not to mention you! You look incredible, Rapunzel. I’m guessing this was Lily’s idea?”

When he came back to Halloweentown he never thought he would become so close to his neighbor. That they would become such close friends. He understood why she had felt overwhelmed by moving here, after all he was only a human as well, surrounded by a sea supernatural beings. It was only natural that they would get so close to each other.

Monster Ball 2021:

location: arcane arcade

for: anyone! ( @halloweentownhqstarters​ )

“this level is impossible,” lyra grumbled, the words meant for herself but spoken at a volume in which anyone could hear. she’d been at the same machine for over an hour now, a game she thought she was good at helping her coast along until reaching level fifty. now she was sat there staring at the screen in front of her, the GAME OVER flashing repeatedly, clearly trying to taunt her into giving up. the redhead’s cheeks puffed out in frustration, hands finding her hips as she gave a glance around, accidentally making eye contact with someone and giving a sheepish smile. “do you happen to be good at this one? because i really thought i was getting somewhere, and then i was promptly annihilated.”

-

Matthew used to spend all his free time at Arcane Arcade when he was a teen. He liked to think he was good at video games, but arcade games were a different beast all together. He didn’t have as much free time lately with the new project he had impulsively bought, however he still found himself back at the arcade. Perhaps he was chasing memories, especially after having run into Adriana at the cafe. 

He chuckled a little bit as he made contact with a small red head who was very clearly frustrated at a game, her cheeks puffed out with frustration, a feeling he had felt similarly before. Shaking his head he replied, “Nope, I think this one is newer. It looked like you were just about to get it though. Why don’t you give it one more shot?”

“Weeks? That’s– Good for you. Your parents must be so excited to have you back in town.” For a brief moment, the werewolf did her best to fake a smile. In truth, she was a little hurt that she hadn’t heard about his return sooner. What did she expect though? She did break his heart. “No, it’s… It’s not that I’m not happy to see you, it’s a little bit of a shock is all. I guess I didn’t expect you to come back.” A sigh rolled off of her lips and the smile faded, revealing the sadness behind her eyes. “You look good,” she noted.

Pulling her the strap of her purse up over her shoulder a little more, she glanced behind him for a moment, focusing on a random object. It seemed to help ground her to focus on something else when she felt panicked. “I’d ask if you want to grab a coffee with me, but, I see you beat me to it,” she chuckled.

-

He could tell by her tone, and the way her facial expressions shifted that she was, hurt? “I bought a house...you know the old house I always talked about buying one day?” Did he mention it all the time? No, he probably had only mentioned it once, and who was to say she would even remember. “Been fixing it up..I planned on coming to see you, but with your little one I figured showing up unannounced wasn’t a good idea. I couldn’t stay away forever.” 

There was a time when Matthew would have taken Adriana in his arms and soothed her anxiety, but now all he could do was mutter out, “Hey, no one said we can’t sit and drink together. I’ve barely even touched mine, plenty left to sip on.”

@matthewclarkson​

Things were never easy in Adriana’s life, no matter how brave of a face she put on. She found herself constantly exhausted, burnt out, and on the verge of a breakdown most days. Still, she held herself together for Gianna. Feeling particularly exhausted, the werewolf had decided to go for something stronger than her home brewed coffee. However, nothing prepared her for what she would see as she was approaching the Black Cat Cafe.

The brunette became pale as she looked on at who she felt was a ghost. He looked similar to what he did when they were younger, still handsome, but older. At first, she was hesitant to say anything. Her first instinct was to hop in her truck and drive to the farm to tell Rory everything. But people were staring at her open-mouthed stare. She was accidentally causing a scene and the only way to avoid one was to face her fears. “M-Matthew?” Her voice trembled as she could feel the anxiety wash over her body. “How long… I, uh,” she muttered, swallowing thickly after she spoke. “How long have you been home?” 

--

It wasn’t that he had been avoiding Adriana, it was more that he just hadn’t had time to properly run by to see her again. Busy with his home and business...catching up with family, all those good things. This morning Matthew had decided he needed a good brew of coffee to start his day, he knew that one day he would bump into his ex, just didn’t think that day would be today. He didn’t have time to prepare. Hell, he was in his work clothes.

“Adriana,” her name fell from his lips as he muttered it out, his hand reached up to run through his hair, “Only a couple weeks..if that.” He held his small cup of coffee in one of his hands, “Aw come on, Ads...don’t look too excited to see me,” he let out a chuckle, “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.” He practically was one seeing as how he had left Halloweentown for a few years, only to show up unannounced now.