Hey-o! There's a new chapter afoot! By popular demand, I have added two more chapters ahead of the original plot. Hope everyone enjoys!

Many thanks go to all who reviewed last chapter!

I own nothing.

The Afterlife: Chapter Four- Let's Play a Love Game

Vince knew the day would come that his parents would try to pick a wife for him; it was obvious that he wasn't looking for any women right now, but there was a good reason, not that he could tell his parents this. The elder Faradays just assumed he would never find a decent bride if they didn't spring into action. If only they knew that he had found that bride, but it was just… complicated.

Jamie was still with him, of course. She told Dana and Dominic to give them a little while longer before deciding whether they'd travel to the underworld with them. The human tried to keep the fact that his parents were trying to hook him up with a girl under wraps, the last thing that he needed was for that to get out to his girlfriend. Or worse, his girlfriend's ghost friends. Her friends were already protective over her, and if they found out that there might have been a chance that her heart would be broken, Vince would be seeing little stars for the rest of eternity.

Needless to say, Vince was in quite the pickle. Especially when Leslie came back to the apartment with a woman, that Mrs. Faraday had sent to woo her little boy over. Now the cop's main objective was to get this woman out of the apartment before any of the friendly neighborhood ghouls could see her.

o—o—o

Jamie was being a snoop, but she didn't really care. She had her body pressed thin against the corner wall that led to the living room, which was the front entrance of her human's apartment. She knew that she shouldn't have been so envious. Really, though, how could she just stand there and watch another woman try to take her boyfriend like that? Sure, she was dead, but that didn't make a bit a difference.

The ghost had no idea why this woman was here, or why she was trying to talk to Vince. If she hadn't have been a ghost, the dead bride would have marched into the room and demanded to know what was going on. In her day, a man wouldn't even think about cheating on his beloved. Maybe it was because she was dead…? Maybe she simply just wasn't good enough for him.

Only to make matters worse, Dana and Dominic had been feeding the fire. They were also under the impression that Vince invited this woman over of his own accord. Given that they had more audacity than the dead bride did, they were about ready to go over to the two humans and torment the living hell out of the alleged other woman.

"Do ye want me ta go over t'ere and show th' tosser a lesson or two? 'Coz I ain't afraid ta," Dominic practically growled as he stared at the scene over the brunette's head.

Jamie puffed her cheeks up and curled her fingers in slightly. "No thank you, I don't think that'll be necessary."

Vince was panicking at that moment. He saw his ghost girl and her goonies watching them, he just hoped that they didn't get the wrong impression about this. Leslie brought her here. Speaking of which, where was she? Maybe she could help distract this chick while he explained everything to Jamie. From the looks of it… she wasn't happy…

The woman his parents picked out for him was a cute little strawberry blonde with freckles and eyes the size of saucers. She was the daughter of one his parent's friends. They went to school together, and, sure, she was nice. Heck, they even dated before. But he had his own girl. He worked too hard to get her. There was no way that he'd screw up now.

"Look, Megan, you're a sweet girl, but that part of our lives is done. I don't feel like that towards you anymore," the blue-eyed cop began, feeling his ghost girl boring a hole into him, even from the distance between them.

"Anymore?" Jamie shrieked fervently. She looked back at Dana, who smiled at her sympathetically.

"They used to date back in high school. Vince was the one who broke it off in the first place, so I dunno why she's here in the first place…" the teenaged ghost pursed her lips together, trying to come up with a plausible scenario.

"Sounds like more a reason to go out there and smack 'em ta me," Dominic grumbled under his breath, and then turned to his girl, "I never really liked either one o' 'em."

Dana kissed her ghost boyfriend's cheek and patted it gently. "I know. But maybe we're just over exaggerating."

Leslie walked up to the three ghouls a moment later, chuckling at the sight. "Are we enjoying the show, peeps?" She asked quietly, stretching on her tiptoes to look over Dana's head. "He still talking to her?"

"I'd just liked to know whose bright idea this was in the first place," Jamie began, her pout only becoming more prominent.

"It was our mother's. Seeing how she doesn't know about you, she wants Vince to have a girlfriend. And… since they dated previously," the younger Faraday sighed, "I'm really sorry about that. But you know how crazy Vince is about you, right?"

The dead bride shrugged. "I guess I do. But… that's just the problem in and of itself, isn't it?"

"Wot do ye mean, li'l bird?" Dominic asked, casting a dark look back at the elder Faraday.

"I just mean that… maybe he's better off with a human, you know? At least he'll be happy. And I'm sure his parents will be happy as well," Jamie looked over at Leslie, who had a sad smile on her face.

"You and my brother are perfect for each other, no matter what anyone else says. So what that you're a ghost? Mom and dad will just have to get over the fact that Vince won't be able to give them grandchildren. They'll probably be curious as to why he never got married, but… well, what can they say? It's not like forced marriages are popular around here anymore."

"I know, but I want him to be happy," the brunette ghost replied in a quiet tone, already having seen enough. Then she walked through the wall, disappearing from sight.

Dominic scrunched up his face in Vince's general direction and balled up a fist. "Can I go punch 'im in the head now?"

"No!" Dana smacked him in the back of the head and dragged him into the wall by the ear. "We've gotta go check on Jamie."

Leslie sighed to herself. Vince was a dead man. And she didn't even know about their plan to kill her brother so that they could go to the underworld…

The elder Faraday child let out a sigh of relief as his ex-girlfriend left the apartment in a bit of a huff. Now he had to deal with his current girlfriend, who was probably ready to smack the hell out of him. When he came up to his sister, she just shook her head at him.

"Where'd Jamie go?" Vince asked, looking around the room a little frantically.

"Through the wall," the younger blonde gave him a look, "you know, she's pretty upset right now."

"Yeah. Which is why you're coming with me to straighten this out," he began, yanking his sister by the arm.

"Ow! Vince, you moron, that hurts!" Leslie shrieked as her older brother pulled her along. It wasn't her fault! Not like she invited Megan over for coffee and cookies…

Vince looked around the hallway he had seen his girlfriend at before, only to realize she had gone. His panic had practically doubled when he noticed that the other two ghouls were gone as well. They probably made Jamie want to break up with him, or something equally as horrible.

"Where do you think she would be?" the younger sibling looked at her brother before continuing, "think, bro. Your girlfriend is upset. Where would she be hiding out? You know her better than I do."

The blue-eyed cop paused for a moment as he considered his sister's question. There weren't many rooms that she could hide in, as this apartment was only so big. She wouldn't be hiding in the bathrooms, and she wouldn't be hiding in Leslie's bedroom. As Vince headed for his bedroom, he tried to collect himself the best that he could. He needed to prepare a speech as fast as he could. And probably write a will…

Being the kindhearted young woman that she was, the twenty-year-old followed him. Call her… emotional support, or something profound like that.

When the two Faradays came into the bedroom, they felt the cold that was usually associated with their ghouls. Vince looked around the room, only to find no one there. Someone was in there, but they just didn't want to show themselves. He knew that it couldn't have been Dana or Dominic; they never hid from anyone. Jamie only showed herself when she needed to.

"Jamie, baby, I know you're in here. Please just show yourself so we can talk. I sent Megan away, she's not who I want to be with, trust me!" the blonde police officer practically pleaded. He kept darting his eyes around the room, looking for any sort of change that could signify his ghost's appearance.

The dead bride was sitting down on her human's bed, wiping away the tears that had begun to fall quite rapidly. Her tattered princess-style skirt was fluffed out in front of her as she sat there trying to keep any more tears from falling. Every so often, she would fiddle with the rips throughout the skirt, worsening her mood. When she saw her human come into the room, she didn't even know what to do anymore.

"He's right, you know," Leslie began, "and our mom was the one who wanted me to bring her here in the first place. We had to appease her; otherwise, she'd never leave us alone about it. Vince loves you."

Jamie let out a deep sigh and decided that it was time to show herself again. As certain parts of her became visible, she replied, "and I love him too. I just want to be sure that this is the best idea for him. He'll have to give up on a lot for me."

"Don't you think that this is something that we need to decide on together?" Vince asked, plopping down on the bed next to his ghost girl.

"Not if it's in your best interest," the ghost bride whispered, her eyes meeting with her human's in that same moment.

"But you are my best interest, don't you see?" the blue-eyed cop began, fighting the urge to lunge forward and kiss her senseless. That wouldn't do either of them any good. Especially since it could never happen while he was still human. "What's made you revert like this?"

"Your mother thinks that you need a girlfriend. And obviously she knows what's best for you," Jamie began, tears prickling the corners of her eyes.

"She doesn't know what's best because she doesn't know about you. If she did know about you, there would be no doubt in her mind whether I'm happy or not," Vince smiled rather sadly as the ghost girl curled up against his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso tightly. He would give anything to be able to cradle her, or just be able to rub her back consolably.

"I really hope that you're right. I want this. With you, I'll finally have some form of a 'happily ever after'. Without you…" the brunette ghost shuddered at the thought of what she would be doing without her Prince Charming.

Leslie smiled at the couple and slowly backed away and out of the room. She didn't need to interrupt a moment like this. And, after all, they needed the time to talk everything out. That probably didn't include Vince's younger sister hanging around the sidelines.

As she shut the bedroom door, the couple looked up in the general direction that it came from. They appreciated the alone-time. Then their eyes met, which brought them back to the situation at hand.

Jamie could tell that her boyfriend was kicking himself over the fact that he couldn't touch her like he wanted to. And, in the same respect, she was kicking her own self. She wanted to give her human everything that he could possibly want. It bothered her immensely that she couldn't do something so small as letting him touch her. Maybe that would be the purity of their relationship, but there would always be a nagging reminder of what their relationship lacked.

The brunette ghost had been thinking over Dana and Dominic's offer to go to the underworld with them. However, that would entail Vince dying. He would never see his family again. It was either Jamie or his family, when it came right down to it. And she wouldn't dare make that kind of decision for him.

"Vince, I want to talk to you about something," Jamie began, a little unsurely.

"I'm all ears," her human began with a gentle smile tugging at his lips.

"I've been thinking about Dana and Dominic's offer. I know that it's insane, but I just want to know what you think of it," the ghost bride eyed the twenty-three-year-old carefully, sincerely hoping that she wouldn't regret bringing this up.

"Well," Vince sighed, "my biggest thing is leaving my family. The thought of my parents having to bury me is just unnerving. And my sister… she wouldn't even understand."

"Then we can say no, Vince," Jamie looked up at her human and raised a hand to gently caress his cheek. "I want you to be happy. I don't want you to die. It's… it's horrible being a ghost."

"I know. It's just… I hate not being able to touch you. I'm happy staying human, yes, but that's one thing that'll always bother me. I dunno if you feel the same," the blue-eyed cop shrugged his shoulders, feeling somewhat selfish about whining that he can't touch his girlfriend.

Jamie shook her head. "You have no idea. When I lean against you, it's like I'm alive again," the brunette smiled just a little bit, "I can feel alive just for that one moment when I hear your heartbeat… but it's never enough. I want warm arms around me, and warm lips against mine. I just can't bear myself to take your life away."

"We'll just have to deal with this in some other way. What we don't have in one aspect of our relationship makes up for another. At least we'll be together, right?" Vince began, instinctively reaching over to play with her hair, only to cut through thin air. The blonde police officer shook his head as he took his hand back, a deep sigh escaping his lips. Boy, this was going to take a lot of effort, wasn't it?

The dead bride kissed her human's cheek, which felt like a feather tickling against him. With that being said, it still brought a smile to his face.

Some things were just worth making exceptions for.

That's it for this chapter, folks. You know what to do.