Sam doesn't bring up the spirit board incident.
He's still not entirely sure what happened. He wants to believe that Abigail had nothing to do with it, that she wouldn't just break her fucking promise over a stupid crush (that's all it is, he should have never told her he was in love), that it was just some bored ghost fucking around with them, but he knows which of the two answers is more likely.
Sam also knows that there's a mature, adult way to handle this situation. He could tell Sebastian how he really feels, before someone – or something – does it for him. Or, he could sit Abigail down, and have a nice chat about how forcibly outing someone to their crush is a shitty thing to do. The thing is, Sam's pretty much the opposite of mature, and he's got a record number of community service hours to prove it.
So he doesn't do either of those things.
It's not like it's hard to avoid the subject, anyways, with so much shit going on during the last few weeks of fall. The Spirit's Eve festival is a particularly good distraction, because it's the one holiday Sebastian actually seems to enjoy.
The festivities start at ten in the evening, and as usual, Sam finds Sebastian standing by the caged skeletons. Normally Sam heads straight for the maze (he's done it every year, and he still can't find the damn prize), but this year, he joins Sebastian in front of the skeletons. Sam doesn't really understand the draw they have on Sebastian, but it's kind of cute how much he seems to enjoy them.
"Hey, Seb."
"Hey," Sebastian replies, without turning to look. Sam decides to test his luck, and inches closer to him. Sebastian finally glances at Sam. "Cold?" he asks, smirking as he bumps Sam's shoulder with his own.
"It's kind of chilly, yeah," Sam replies. "You don't feel cold?"
Sebastian shrugs. "I never get cold."
Without thinking, Sam reaches for Sebastian's hand. "Liar," he declares, as their fingers make contact, "your hand is fucking freezing." Sebastian weaves his icy cold fingers into Sam's, snickering as Sam inhales sharply. "Don't you own gloves?" Sam mutters.
"That's what pockets are for," Sebastian replies. And just to be a little shit (the smug grin spreading across his face gives it away), he sticks his hand in Sam's jacket pocket.
They're still holding hands. Sam sends his silent thanks to Yoba.
"Want to check out the maze?" Sam asks, after a few minutes of watching the skeletons stumble around. As nice as this is, he really is starting to feel cold.
"Okay," Sebastian answers, slowly turning away from the cage. He pulls his hand out of Sam's, and shoves it in his own hoodie pocket, instead. Sam takes back all the thanks he just sent to Yoba. "Where's Abby?"
"Dunno." Sam glances in the direction of the maze. "She usually checks out the maze on her own. I haven't seen her come out yet." He wonders if it's too much to hope that they don't run into Abigail. It probably is.
Sebastian shrugs. "Cool. Guess it's just the two of us, then."
"You've never done the maze, right?" Sam asks, as they head towards it.
Sebastian shakes his head. "Doesn't sound all that scary, honestly; I don't know why everybody makes such a big deal out of it. Those skeletons, though? That's some creepy shit."
They reach the entrance to the maze, and come to a stop. "Ready?" Sam grins. Sebastian rolls his eyes. Together, they enter the maze.
"Oh man, this is some spooky shit," Sebastian says in a deadpan tone, a few minutes later. They've passed Maru, Harvey, and a couple dead ends, and now they're staring down a path that's dotted with twitching hands protruding from the dirt. "Look at all of these hands. What if they try to touch my dick? That'd be terrifying."
Sam elbows him. "Stop being a little shit. It gets way scarier than this. You'll see."
"Let me guess – the next path is full of disembodied mouths, and they're all trying to suck my dick."
"Shut the fuck up," Sam scolds, but he can't help laughing. They follow the path forward, stepping around the hands as they go. Sam knows they're supposed to take a left turn here, but he lets Sebastian guide them past it.
They find a dead end ahead of them, along with Penny, though she doesn't seem to notice them. She's tucked away in the corner, hunched over a bubbling cauldron, staring intently at its contents.
Sebastian ignores her, instead pointing at the small house behind her. "Woah, dude. That house skipped leg day," he says, in an exaggerated impression of Alex's voice.
Sam snorts, and joins in. "Look at those chicken legs; this house definitely doesn't lift." His impression isn't as good at Sebastian's, but Sebastian still snickers all the same.
Penny finally looks up from the cauldron. "I think it's a reference to the house of Baba Yaga," she says, and the unexpected interruption is the closest something's come to startling Sebastian yet.
"Cool," Sebastian replies, in a tone of voice that implies he doesn't find it all that cool. He glances in her direction. "Hey, what's in the cauldron?"
"I... I'm not actually sure," Penny says. "I can't seem to move away, though."
"Dare you to drink it," Sam says to Sebastian. "500g."
Sebastian ponders the cauldron for a few seconds. "500g? Fuck no. I dare you drink it." Beside them, Penny coughs, and Sebastian shoots her a glare. "What?"
"Come on, man," Sam says, dragging Sebastian away before Penny works up the nerve to answer him. "Forget the cauldron; we've got a prize to find."
"I don't know why you hang out with her," Sebastian mutters to Sam as they retreat back down the path. "She's worse than Abigail."
Sam shrugs. "She's fun sometimes," he replies. Then he nudges Sebastian in the side and adds, "She certainly doesn't have your charming personality, though."
Sebastian smirks. "Too bad; you're stuck with me now."
Sam feels the back of Sebastian's hand brush against his, and for a few seconds he thinks it's accidental, except it happens a second time, and then a third. He glances at Sebastian out of the corner of his eye, and he swears Sebastian's cheeks have turned a faint pink since they've left the dead end.
Just as Sam's about to work up the courage to slip his fingers into Sebastian's, they pass by Alex, and Sebastian pulls his hand away. It's probably for the best though, because judging by the look on Alex's face, he heard their impressions, and Sam really doesn't want to find out what Alex 'ladies love me and my hair' Mullner would think of two guys holding hands.
"I think he overheard us," he says to Sebastian, once they're out of earshot.
"No shit," Sebastian replies. "With insight like that, I'm not surprised you haven't found the end of the maze yet."
"This year's going to be different," Sam insists.
Sebastian rolls his eyes. "Let me guess; you can feel it?"
"Maybe if you roll your eyes hard enough we'll be magically teleported to the end," Sam retorts.
"That doesn't even make sense."
They arrive at a large clearing in the center of the maze, and find Abigail sitting on the edge of a fountain. She looks a little too pleased that he's with Sebastian, Sam decides that if she says anything about it, he's going to push her in.
"Hey," she calls out to them. "I see you roped Seb into joining you this year."
"Somebody has to help Sam's dumb ass find the end of the maze," Sebastian replies.
"Yeah, well somebody has to get this nerd some exercise," Sam shoots back. He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. "You gonna join us?" Sam asks Abigail. He doesn't particularly want to invite her to tag along, but Sebastian would definitely suspect something's up if he doesn't.
"I can't," she says, shaking her head. "Spiders. You guys go on without me." She gives Sam a knowing smile, and he shoots back a glare in response. Sebastian, thank Yoba, is studying the opening at the other end of the clearing, and doesn't seem to notice the looks they exchange.
They leave Abigail behind in the clearing, passing by what Sebastian describes as "the fakest fucking spiders he's ever seen", and reach the gravel pit where the playground usually sits. The equipment's been replaced by a couple of tombstones, and some bones stuck into the gravel.
"Are those real bones?" Sebastian asks with interest.
"Who cares?" Sam answers, impatiently tugging Sebastian away from the pit by the back of his hoodie; they're so close to the end of the maze, and he wants to finally put an end to the mystery. "Look, there's the dead end."
Sebastian frowns. "So which way are we supposed to go, then?"
"There isn't another way, that's the thing," Sam explains. "I've taken every possible fucking path in this maze, and it's all dead ends." He squints, studying the sign just before the path ends. It has a single, red question mark painted on it. "I mean, this sign has to mean something, right? There's like, a puzzle or something we have to solve."
"We're going to be here all fucking night then," Sebastian complains. "You're shit at puzzles." He kicks at one of the hedges in frustration, and his foot goes through. There's a pause, and the two boys exchange a look.
"No way," Sam says, and he crouches down to investigate the hole Sebastian's made. "Is it supposed like this?"
Sebastian shrugs. "I don't know; you're the expert."
Sam peers through the hole in the shrub. "It must be a fake dead end," he decides. "I can't believe it's been here the whole time." Sam drops to his hands and knees, and slowly crawls through. "You coming?" he calls back to Sebastian once he's on the other side.
"This seems like cheating," Sebastian calls back, but he follows anyways. He emerges from the hedge, and grins when he sees Sam. "Dude. You've got so much shit stuck in your hair."
Sam instinctively reaches up to feel his hair, and yep, he's got several twigs lodged in there, and more leaves than he can count. He groans, and Sebastian reaches out to pluck a few stray leaves free from his hair.
"This wouldn't happen if your hair weren't so fucking ridiculous," Sebastian says, and while his words are teasing, he's got this soft look on his face, and Sam doesn't know what to make of it. He lets his hands drop to his side as Sebastian fishes the rest of the leaves and twigs out from his hair.
"Your hair's pretty fucking ridiculous too, dude," he retorts. "And at least I don't dye mine-"
"I'd look even more ridiculous with red hair," Sebastian scoffs. "Besides, Abby dyes hers – you're the odd one out."
Sam's sure Sebastian would look just as cute with red hair, but he has the sense not to voice that particular opinion. "You done yet?" he asks instead.
Sebastian studies Sam's hair for a minute, then ruffles it. Sam scowls. "Perfect," Sebastian declares with a smug look.
"Fuck off," Sam mumbles, as he attempts to style his hair back into its usual position. "You little shit."
"You love me," Sebastian replies oh so casually, and fuck, he doesn't know how true that is. Sam needs to change the subject, before he says something he's going to regret. He glances around the path.
"Looks like the only way out is that cave," Sam says, as he gestures towards it. "Got your lighter?" Sebastian nods, digging around in his pockets for it. "You first," Sam declares, once Sebastian's got it out and lit. He shoves Sebastian towards the entrance, and Sebastian reaches back to grab at his arm, pulling Sam into the cave with him.
Even with Sebastian's lighter, the cave is dark as hell. Like, impossibly dark. Sam's not even sure where this cave came from, because he's taken Vincent to the playground, and there definitely was not a cave in the cliffside before.
He uses the dark as an excuse to press closer to Sebastian.
"You okay?" Sebastian leans in to ask, his free hand coming to rest against the small of Sam's back.
"I'm fine. It's dark as fuck in here, that's all," Sam mumbles in response. He's not exactly afraid of the dark, but he's more than willing to pretend to be, if it means Sebastian acting a little more gentle than usual.
"Don't look up. I think I see eyes."
Sam, of course, looks up. "You're such an ass, Seb," he says, when he fails to see any glowing eyes above them.
Sebastian chuckles. "So gullible for a master prankster." His hand's still on Sam's back, and now he's rubbing gentle circles into it with his thumb, and Sam's confused, because yeah, they're little overly affectionate for friends, but normally he's the overly affectionate one. Not Sebastian.
He doesn't have much time to dwell on it though, because they reach the end of the cave, and Sebastian's hand is gone once they step out into the clearing.
They find another dead end.
Sam's momentarily confused, because he's pretty sure mazes are supposed to have exits, but there's also a chest on the ground, so they move forward to investigate it. "Don't tell me we were supposed to find a key somewhere back there," Sam groans, when he realizes he's not actually sure if they're going to be able to open this thing.
Sebastian glances back at the cave. "Maybe it's in the tunnel?"
"Can't we just... I don't know, kick it open?" Sam suggests. It's a stupid idea, but it worked on the hedge, so maybe...
Sebastian cautiously kicks at the chest, and the lid actually falls open, to their surprise. Golden light spills out, illuminating the small clearing, and they both lean in closer.
"It's... a pumpkin?" Sebastian says, looking just as confused as Sam feels.
"No, it's got a face; I think it's a jack-o-lantern."
"Can't believe we did all this for a fucking pumpkin," Sebastian continues, ignoring Sam.
Sam rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry, I just thought... it would be fun, you know? You've never done the maze, and-"
"-and I liked it," Sebastian finishes for him.
He blinks. "Really? You made fun of the entire thing."
"Does that surprise you?" He steps closer to Sam, and all Sam can think about is how close their faces are – their noses are almost touching. "Thanks," Sebastian says next, "for bringing me with you. I had a good time." He's smiling at Sam – a genuine smile, one that's rare for Sebastian – and in the glow that the pumpkin's emitting, Sam swears he can just make out a faint blush on his cheeks.
Sam doesn't know whether he should make a joke about how close they're standing, or just...
Fuck it.
He reaches up, cupping Sebastian's cheek with one of his hands. Sebastian's eyes widen, but he doesn't pull away.
"Can I?" Sam whispers.
There's a moment of hesitation, and then Sebastian nods. Sam closes his eyes, and then closes the gap between them, pressing his lips to Sebastian's. He seems uncertain at first, but just as Sam's about to pull back, he feels Sebastian's lips moving against his own. Sam slides his hand further back, fisting it into Sebastian's hair.
They break apart a few seconds later, and Sam barely has time to process what just happened before Sebastian's hands are on his jacket, fingers curling into the worn denim, yanking him back in. The second kiss is sloppier, with much more enthusiasm than finesse, and Sam doesn't care, because fuck, he's wanted to kiss his best friend like this for years.
"Fuck, Seb," he mumbles when they pull back for the second time.
"That an offer?" Sebastian smirks. Their foreheads are pressed together, and he's still clutching Sam's jacket in both hands. Sam's own hands have migrated from Sebastian's hair to the small of his back, and Sam's tempted – so tempted – to slide them just a little further down.
The thing is, they're still in the middle of the fucking maze (the actual middle; they're going to have to trek all the way back to the beginning to get out), and there's like, a thirty percent chance Alex can see them through the hedges. They can still hear him pacing just outside the bushes.
"We, ah, should probably head back," Sam suggests. "Been in here a while; Abigail might send out a search party soon."
Sebastian releases his hold on Sam's jacket. "I want the pumpkin."
Sam laughs. "You going to smash it?"
"Fuck yeah I'm going to smash it." Sebastian looks delighted by just the thought of it. "Or throw it against the mountain, or maybe drop it off a cliff-"
"Guess it's not such a shitty prize after all," Sam teases.
"Yeah, well it's better than your prize," Sebastian sneers, as he lifts the pumpkin out of the chest, and tucks it under one arm. "Which is nothing."
"Maybe you're my prize, Sebby," Sam says, with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.
Sebastian glares in response, but he reaches for Sam's hand as they turn to head back through the cave.
(And this time, finally, neither of them pull away.)