( a/n: this chapter has no relation to the plot of the story. just a cute little fluff piece for halloween. hope you enjoy<3 )

The Halloween Enthusiast

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"but the monsters turned out to be just trees."

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"Rise and shine, bitches!"

Tatum Sommers loved Halloween.

It was her second favorite holiday.

Christmas being her favorite. Duh.

"Wakey, wakey!"

"Go away, Tate!" She heard a muffled voice shout back.

Tatum rolled her eyes with a huff. She had woken up early in the morning and decided to cook everyone a Halloween themed breakfast and this was the thanks she was getting. The absolute audacity of these people.

Like seriously!

"I made breakfast!" Tatum shouted back through the door, only further annoying her younger cousin, Jeremy. "So get your ass out of bed!"

The ginger gave a small hum of approval when she heard him mumble some form of agreement. She then continued down the hall to her other cousin, Elena. Tatum raised her hand to knock on the door, only for it to open before she had the chance.

On the other side stood Elena. She was still wearing her matching pajama set with the shorts twisted sideways from her sleeping. Her hair was still a mess and the look on her face was anything but happy.

"You look absolutely radiant this morning, Lena," Tatum complimented with a wide grin on her face.

Elena blinked slowly.

She stared at her older cousin with a deadpanned expression.

Normally, Tatum hated mornings. She liked sleeping in and drinking a lot of coffee to make up for her lack of sleep yet here she was, wide awake and beaming. Holidays were the only exception to Tatum's normal grumpy morning behavior.

Elena couldn't even comprehend it.

"Morning, Tate," Elena grumbled.

"Good Morning!" Tatum exclaimed, the wide smile never leaving her face. "I've spent the entire morning cooking up an amazing breakfast for us all, so you better quickly go and get ready because food goes quickly in this house."

Elena hummed as she leaned her head against the door frame and closed her eyes. "That's cause you eat it all," She muttered.

Tatum scoffed and pushed Elena's head off the door frame.

Elena's eyes shot open and she immediately glared at her cousin. Before she even gave Tatum a chance to say anything, she slammed the door shut in her cousin's face. She then locked the door and walked away from it, leaving Tatum standing on the other side.

"How rude," Tatum rolled her eyes and walked away.

She made her to the very end of the hallway where her mom's room was located. She didn't even have to raise her fist before the door was swinging wide open, revealing Jenna, who was already dressed in a pair of sweats and a loose sweater. She had a Halloween headband on her head that had spiraled coils coming up off the top with cartoon Jack-o-Lanterns attached to them.

"Tell me you have coffee!"

"Tell me you have a matching headband!"

The two exclaimed at the same time.

"I'm not insane," Tatum retorted. "There is no functioning of a Sommers woman in the morning without a cup of coffee."

"Multiple cups of coffee," Jenna corrected. "And that means you have some?"

"There is a fresh brewed pot downstairs," Tatum replied with a wide grin. "And it's those special roasted beans from my work so it tastes like fall in a cup. You're welcome in advance."

"I knew I raised you right," Jenna replied.

The older woman then looped her arm through her daughter's and began walking down the hallway. "To the coffee we go!" She chorused as if they were setting out on some epic adventure.

"No headband?" Tatum questioned, a pout forming on her lips.

"As if," Jenna replied before she pulled out a headband from absolutely nowhere and stuck it on her daughter's head. She then spun Tatum so she was facing her and then adjusted the headband to make sure it was one straight.

"Ta da! Now we're matching!"

~~~~~

Much like her father, Tatum was a little over the top when it came to holidays.

She had spent an entire weekend decorating the house for Halloween. She had put lights outside the house, a graveyard set up on the lawn, spiderwebs on the porch and on the bushes, and light up spiders that sat on the railing of the porch.

Then she had done the inside.

Not a single room was left untouched.

Her mother had helped her out with that.

Jenna was just as fond of the holidays as her daughter and her late husband.

The morning of the 31st, Tatum had proceeded to make an entire breakfast for her family. She had made pumpkin cinnamon rolls, orange colored pancakes that were meant to look like carved pumpkins, and pumpkin spiced lattes for those in her family that didn't know how to drink black coffee ( Jeremy and Elena ).

She had also subjected her family and friends to carving pumpkins with her. Caroline had been enthused and was more than happy to participate. Everyone else, besides Jenna, was less than happy to be participating, many of them claiming that it was pointless.

They were pointless.

Shut up, Tatum.

But what Tatum loved most was the costumes.

She loved being able to dress up.

She was currently at the Mystic Grill with Caroline, enjoying her lunch break from work.

"But we could have matched, Tate," Caroline whined for what felt like the millionth time. She had wanted the two of them to twin again for Halloween.

Before everything had happened, Tatum would match her costume with Sebastian. The two of them were twins so Tatum obviously found it absolutely hilarious when the two of them would have costumes that matched each other and sometimes were even identical. However, the twins often included Caroline in their customer theme as well, not wanting the blonde to be left out.

The trio became a duo once Sebastian had left Mystic Falls.

Ever since then, Caroline and Tatum normally coordinated their outfits.

They had done Cady Heron and Regina George from Mean Girls, they had done Daphne and Fred from Scooby-Doo ( Caroline had been Fred and Tatum had been Daphne ), Bloom and Stella from the Winx Club, and a few other ones that always came back to the blonde-ginger hair.

This year, Caroline had wanted them to be sexy Buffy and Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Caroline had insisted on using the word sexy, but when Tatum had seen the inspiration pictures that the blonde had saved, the world slutty surely fit the profile better—not that Tatum cared all too much about the costume.

"But we are matching, Care," Tatum protested.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "I'm aware, but we would have been so hot as Buffy and Willow. I mean, come on, Tate! Have you seen yourself recently? You're absolutely stunning. I mean drop dead gorgeous."

"We can be Buffy and Willow next year, but the perfect opportunity presented itself this year and we cannot possibly pass it up."

"You're giving up the iconic blonde and ginger hair duo for this costume," Caroline pointed an accusatory fry at her friend.

"Don't wave your fry at me."

"I will do whatever I please with my fries," Caroline retorted as she continued to wave the fry around at Tatum.

As soon as she saw the chance, Tatum bite the fry that had been in the blonde's possession.

"Tatum!" Caroline exclaimed.

Tatum rolled her eyes with a cheeky grin on her face.

The blonde grabbed a new fry from her basket before she popped it into her mouth. She then looked at Tatum with a playful glare, "You're lucky I love you."

"And don't I know it."

Tatum's phone pinged, reminding her that her lunch break was almost over. She sighed before shoving the rest of her fries in her mouth and washing it all down with the remaining lemonade that was in her glass.

Caroline just watched her friend with wide eyes.

Even after all the years she had spent with Tatum, the blonde vampire wasn't sure if she was ever going to get used to the way that her friend was able to se easily put down food.

Any food.

Any time.

"I gotta dash, my beautiful bubbly blonde," Tatum stood up from her chair and shoved her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. "My day job beckons."

"See you tonight."

"You betcha," Tatum responded with a smile. "And trust me when I say we are going to rock the costumes we planned. Promise."

"Pinky promise?" Caroline challenged.

Tatum locked her pinky with her friends'.

"Pinky promise."

~~~~~

"You look absolutely magnificent!" Caroline exclaimed as she adjusted the black wig that was on Tatum's head, making sure that all the bright ginger colored hair was hidden from view. She then took a step back and admired her work. "I mean, I think I outdid myself this year...."

Tatum turned and looked in the mirror.

As soon as she saw herself, she let out a loud laugh.

"This is perfect."

"I know!" Caroline agreed. "I know I disagreed at first, but I think these might be our best costumes yet."

Caroline adjusted the dirty blonde wig on her head well before she fluffed up the top of it some more. She leaned forward in the mirror and dabbed the fake blood that was running from the corner of her lip.

"Like, I know I'm a vampire and all, but this is taking it to a whole new level."

Tatum stepped closer to the mirror to get a better look at herself. Due to the makeup Caroline had put on her, her complexion was much paler than it normally was and she had bright blue contacts, which was very difficult to get used to.

She opened her mouth a little and two little fangs poked over her lips, making her smile.

"I just know that we are going to get so much shit for doing this."

Caroline laughed and clapped her hands together, excitedly. "Oh, I know," She replied. "But it is so going to be worth it."

The two exchanged mischievous grins with each other.

~~~~~

Trying to embrace the whole "normal" human vibe he was supposed to be giving off, Damon had been passing out Halloween candy ever since he came back to Mystic Falls. To be fair, it wasn't the worst thing he could be doing, especially since he was able to take his favorite candies from the bowl and keep them for himself.

He was selfish.

He killed people.

Whatever.

The vampire was lounging on the couch, flipping through one of the old books that was in the house as he enjoyed yet another glass of bourbon. He had been waiting in the main room of his house, waiting for tiny children to knock on his door dressed in obnoxious little outfits.

Knock. Knock.

There was a loud thudding against his door.

Damon sighed and pushed himself up off the couch. He grabbed his designated crystal candy bowl from the side table and made his way to the door. He pulled open the door and his eyes widened in shock.

"What....the...hell....."

The outfit.

The hair.

The makeup.

"Trick or Treat!" Caroline and Tatum chorused in sync.

Damon continued to stare at them wide-eyed.

"Stefan!"

Stefan came rushing down the stairs, thinking something bad had happened, only to come skidding to a stop next to his brother when he saw who was at the door.

"What...."

The hair.

The outfit.

The makeup.

The hair.

Damon and Stefan exchanged looks with each other before looking back at Tatum and Caroline.

"You're me," Damon pointed at Tatum as he continued to take in her appearance.

She had a black wig on that looked much like his hair. She had blue eyes, pale skin, and blood running down from the corner of her lip. She was wearing dark jeans, a dark shirt, and topped it all off with a leather jacket.

"I'm you," Tatum grinned.

Stefan just continued to stare at Caroline.

The blonde had taken a similar approach as her friend. She had the pale skin and the blood running down from her lips. She had the outfit all right. Then, then there was the hair. The wig she was wearing looked a little too much like his own hair.

How did she manage to even do that?

He was never going to know.

"You're me..." Damon repeated.

"I even have your little fangs!" Tatum exclaimed as she opened her mouth and ran her tongue along the two little fangs she had attached to her teeth.

"My fangs aren't little...." Damon muttered to himself.

Caroline and Tatum looked at each other with pleased smiles before they reached into the bowl of candy Damon had and each took their favorite kind.

They then began their trek back down the annoyingly long driveway. Once they reached the end, they turned back around and saw that Stefan and Damon were still stuck in the doorway.

The two girls giggled in amusement before they shouted up to the two brothers from the end of the driveway.

"Happy Halloween, fellas!"

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a/n: a nice little way to bid spooky season farewell. hope you all enjoyed <3

thank you @wandasxlvrs for the costume idea!!!