You had always been a horror fan, even before you entered high school, way before you met Tadashi. Kid-friendly ghost stories that were told around Halloween time in preschool just stuck to you. That, plus slasher films, creepy documentaries, all of it. It stuck to you from then to junior high, and just forever since you were introduced to it.

October was your month to shine. It was the time of year where you got to drag your friends into marathons of terrifying movies. And out of everyone you knew, no one was more restraint to your love of fear than Tadashi, your now boyfriend.

He wasn't exactly brave, he knew it. He flinched so hard when a balloon popped, tensed up easily at something as little as a door creak. But you loved him for it. His honesty, his awkward bravery, how he put himself through something you liked even though you offered a dozen times to watch something else. That was one thing about him. He'd try for you. Every single time.

Whether it was agreeing to watch a "totally no scary, I promise" movie or letting you convince him into going to a Halloween event with you, he'd show up. Pale, jittery, and super jumpy the entire time, but he'd be there. Because if it made you happy, then he would deal a dozen little heart attacks.

You started dating a little over a year ago, and your first Halloween together had been... memorable, to say the least. He'd lasted a good fifteen minutes into a horror movie before claiming he needed to use the restroom, came back, and turns out he spent that time building up the courage to hold you for the rest of the movie.

Anything, apparently, included watching a horror movie marathon at your placed. Dimmed lights, snacks, and settled onto either your bed or the couch side by side. He was stiff all. the. time. Shoulders locked, a death grip on you and the snack bowl. The studio intro was still rolling and his knee was already bouncing.

Two films in, about to start a third, Tadashi broke the silence with a shift that caused the nearly-empty snack bowl to tilt here and there, but not spilling. "Ah... I've watched so many already and I still can't take it," He laughs almost nervously. "Kind of lame, don't you think?" He jolted up slightly at a drop in the bass of the soundtrack playing during the credits.