𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 [𝐬.𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

The front door slowly opens as Laurie walks in with Dustin behind her. Closing the door softly behind them, the sibling duo tries to sneakily make their way to Dustin's room without being caught by their mother. "Dusty! La!" Their mom calls out, causing them to freeze.

She walks over in her cat costume with a big smile, and Mews follows behind her. "Dusty, how was it?" He stammers while looking at her, confused, as his sister quietly sighs in frustration. "How was what?" The greatest night of the year, of course." Her smile is warm as it clicks in his head. "Oh. Oh, yeah, it was...it was, uh, tubular."

"Tubular?" Laurie mutters to herself. "What's wrong with you? La, did something happen?" She looks at her mom calmly, "No, he's probably just tired. It's been a very long but fun day." Her mom almost seems to buy it until a thudding comes from the trap making everyone jump. Dustin starts laughing nervously as Mews hisses at the trap.

"I rigged the trap with a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost. Just like the movie." He explains, trying his best to push away the subject of the now moving trap. "He's so innovative, isn't he, mom?" Laurie asks with a slightly nervous laugh which her mother. "Oh, Dusty. So-so smart." All three laugh nervously before the siblings walk away and to Dustin's room.

Laurie closes and locks the door behind her as Dustin walks over to his tank, which is currently the housing for his turtle, Yertle. "I told you to keep quiet. All you had to do was stay still for one minute. One minute." He scolds the thing in the trap as she walks over to him and looks at the sweet turtle. Then, he takes off the top of the tank as he reaches in to grab Yertle.

"Sorry, Yertle. Temporary eviction, buddy." He hands him to her, and she looks at the reptile, confused, "Why did you hand him to me? I don't have a tank or anything for him to live in while we figure out what the fuck that thing is." Dustin ignores her as he opens the trap and drops the unknown creature into the tank.

She sets the turtle on the floor as she bends down to get a better look at the creature. The creature makes noises as it looks at Dustin and Laurie, "What are you, little guy?" He smiles broadly at the lizard as she raises an eyebrow. "What were you doing in our trash?" He asks, keeping his eyes on the creature as it moves under the log.

Pouring out his candy on his bed, Dustin looks through for a second before grabbing a three musketeers bar. "Don't you think we should try fruits or veggies? It's a reptile, right?" Dustin shrugs as he puts little pieces of candy into the tank. She wraps an arm around his shoulders as they wait for a reaction from the reptile.

Dustin comfortably lays his head on her side as the creature moves from under the log and investigates the food. "Nougat. Go on, eat." She smiles at her brother and thanks him as he gives her a chunk from the bar. The creature screeches as it gets under the light; Laurie draws her brows together. "Are you hot, little guy?" She questions as she turns the heat lamp off.

It quickly crawls out and starts eating the candy. "You like nougat too, huh?" Dustin continues to be in awe of his newfound creature, but Laurie can't shake the weird feeling she gets from it. Maybe it's because she's never seen one before or because it's a reptile that doesn't like the heat, or because it eats nougat. Whatever it is, she can't help but feel that Dustin is going in a little too fast into taking it in as a pet.