This is a modern AU, which means this takes place in the present reality (our present-time). I have read a lot of comments getting confused about this chapter, so just for clarification, this is MODERN!

Also, did major changes to the plot of this chapter. 

Warning: sensitive topics

*When you go trick or treating for the first time.*

"Wait! You mean to tell me you never went trick or treating before!?" Eren asked, slightly shocked. 

You shook your head.  

"Why not!? It's the best thing ever!"

Your eyes downcasted, Eren noticed. His eyes widened. 

"Wait...! Oh no..." Eren gasped as he suddenly remembered. 

Yep...that was your reason for hating Halloween. 

Not only was it Halloween, but it was the anniversary of your grandparents' death. 

One halloween night, your grandparents were driving you back home from a Halloween party from Eren's house. 

Everything happened so fast...

A random car crashed into yours, the drivers being drunkies from a teenage halloween party. Both your grandparents were killed, while you were able to make it out alive. 

But not without a serious head and eye injury, causing you lose your way of speaking and a scar on your left eye. Which is primarily why you're "mute" or how you better describe yourself...non-talkative. 

Eren and his family adopted you soon after they heard about the accident, not wanting me to get shipped off to some orphanage. And since Eren's father is already a doctor, he gives you free checkups and makes sure to keep an extra eye on your health. 

You hated Halloween since then. You tried your best to ignore it. 

"I'm so sorry. I forget they passed away this day..."

You sniffed. 

"..." Eren stayed quiet for a moment standing up. 

"I'll be right back!"

"?"

Eren hasn't visited for hours until the evening was slowly arriving. You could see the people outside preparing for the long night. Meanwhile, you were feeling nostalgic over sweet memories. 

*BANG*

"!!!"

"Hey! Guess what! Hange bought you something!" He said while handing you a bag. 

You raised an eyebrow before opening the bag to reveal a halloween costume, but not just any costume. 

It's an anime cosplay costume. Hange says you act a lot like the character in this anime. You think her name was Nezuko from Demon Slayer?

"Look, I know you don't want to go trick or treating at a time like this. But I'm sure your grandparents would still want you to enjoy it. Even when they're not here..."

"Mmm...mm-hmm" You opened your mouth as you let out an incoherent sound. 

You inhaled deeply before nodding your head. Hange must have spent a lot of this. 

"Cool! Go try it on! I'll try out in mine!" Eren rushed out of my room and left me alone. 

You looked at the costume and mentally sighed. 

Looks like there's no walking out of this. 

*Time Skip*

Ugh, do you really have to wear this. This bamboo muzzle is uncomfortable. But at least you got the makeup and contacts right. 

"Are you ready? I'm coming in." Eren opened the door. His eyes slightly widened. 

You slowly turned towards him. He was dressed up in a titan costume, which really surprised you because he always hated those things when you learned about it in history class. 

"Wow..." Eren said in awe. 

You don't get it...he's not saying anything. Is it bad? 

"You look gorgeous..."

...Did he really say that out loud? Your face turned bright red. 

Eren's face lit up a bright red in realization of what he just said. 

"I-I...I mean..."

You slightly giggled and waved your hand, giving him a sign that it was okay. 

"Eren! Are you two ready to go!?" Mikasa called from downstairs. 

"Ah, we're coming!" Eren turned to you. 

"Ready to go?" he held out his hand. 

You nodded while taking his hand. My whole body trembled. 

You weren't sure of this. 

*Another Time Skip*

Armin, Mikasa, Eren, and you decided to group up with one another to walk down from house to house. Eren held on to your hand the entire way. While they were conversing, you weren't exactly paying attention. 

The vampires, zombies, witches, and ghouls were walking around all over the place. They were bringing back sweet memories of when you used to dress up...go with your grandparents. 

Grandma...Grandpa...

Armin noticed your downcasted expression and began to panic. 

"Hey! You look really cute in your costume! It suits you very well." Armin complimented you, trying his best not to act fluster to what he said. 

Armin...he was trying to make you feel better.

Armin talked with you to make you feel at ease the entire time, with each time that flew by. You each walked down house to house. 

"Trick or Treat!" the three of them would chant as you each got the good candy. 

With each time that passed by, you were feeling more and more worse. You wanted to have fun, but trick or treating didn't feel right without your grandparents. 

Everything you did made you miss them more and more. Apparently you were so distracted, you ended up bumping into a person by accident. 

"Oi! Watch it loser!" The girl barked at you. 

"Hey lay off!" Eren snapped while getting defensive. 

"Eren...it's okay." Mikasa intervened. 

"We're really sorry." Armin bowed. 

"Hmph! You better be. Oh, You're Nezuko from Demon Slayer. I love that anime. That costume is great on you!"

"...?" You blinked a couple of times. Why the sudden change of heart?

Soon after that, you all headed home. Sharing and trading candies with each other, laughing at the pictures your friends from school posted in the group chat. 

After a while, the giggles and laughs of your friends brought back those memories. You were all like this before...the night it happened. 

You all were sharing candy...laughing. Then your grandparents arrived to pick you up. They listened to you describing what happened at the party. 

Then it happened...

"L-look out!"

"OH NO!"

"!!!"

*CRASH*

"AH!" You yelped while gasping, this shook your friends. 

"..." You stayed quiet as you slowly got up from the table and hurriedly went upstairs. 

"W-wait!" Eren called out, but you were already gone. 

You closed your room door, finally letting the tears out. You let out weak sounding sobs as you fell to the ground. 

You covered your face as you continued to cry. You were crying for a minute until you heard a knock. 

"??" 

"Can we come in?"

"Mmm..." You hummed while giving them the go ahead. 

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren entered the room while giving you sympathetic looks. 

"I-I...I'm so sorry. I wanted you to have fun just for tonight, so you wouldn't spend it in grief. But I guess I pushed you a bit, didn't I?" Eren asked. 

You sniffed and said nothing. 

"You know...we blamed ourselves for what happened." Armin continued. 

"!!?"

"We planned the halloween party and wanted you to come so badly, even though your grandparents weren't too sure of it. We persisted. Little did we know what happened next. We blame ourselves ever since." Armin explained. 

"We thought that maybe if we made you smile at least once this Halloween, we can slowly ease your pain and our guilt. But I guess we only made it worse."

No way...after all these years...they blamed themselves for what happened. 

Eren...Mikasa...Armin...

You wasted no time rushing towards them to hug them tightly. 

You spent the rest of the night crying and forgiving each other. For the first time...you felt happy this Halloween. 

You pulled away and gave them an exciteful look. 

"Humph!"

"Huh? Horror movies? You sure?" Armin asked. 

You didn't answer, but instead ran downstairs to get first dibs. 

"Hey!"

"No fair!"

"Careful, don't fall!" Mikasa warned you.  

*A/N: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope you had fun trick or treating! I know I didn't because my mom won't allow me. *Sigh* Just thought I'll give you guys a treat from all those funny and supportive comments you had sent on this story. And the trick...this is not an update and the next update probably won't come by as sooner as you think >:) Hehehe, I'm a mean author! Jk! I love you guys, but I'm serious. Might take me a while to update, but I'll try my best. Have a spooky night~!*

(P.S. I dressed up as a French Girl for Halloween Day at school. Not gonna post a picture because I don't want y'all to see my ugly face. But according to my friend, I looked really adorable. But my shy self is not gonna post what I looked like :p)