Dustin and Katherine emerged from Dustin's truck after he had given her a ride back home. Katherine was starting to sober up just a bit, and was rather embarrassed at how crazy she had been acting in the bar earlier.

The two had chatted for two hours after Dustin's special haunting session, while the sisters made sure they were alone in the bar for the night, keeping visitors away. When they had decided to leave, Stella and Bertha had stopped them and put on more music, insisting the two have a slow dance first before leaving.

When Katherine refused, they playfully threatened to play with Dustin some more. This time, Katherine stepped in to protect him, and so the dance began. She couldn't help but notice that as Stella and Bertha were enjoying the dance, Lena had floated off somewhere, looking sour.

Her head was still pounding a bit, and as she rubbed her temples, she could feel Dustin bringing the car to a slow and safe stop, and felt grateful to him, even if he didn't mean it.

"Wow..." Katherine said softly. "I haven't had that much fun in a while. I'm not wild about being basically kidnapped, but I kinda needed a good break."

"Strangely enough, I actually feel the same way," Dustin said, smirking. "I was just heading in for a drink, and instead I got ghosts and I got to meet the Katherine Robison in the flesh."

Katherine blushed a bit. "So, you're a follower of my work?"

"Well... I wouldn't say I'm a follower, that kind of sounds like I'm some kind of stalker." They chuckled together. "But I've become familiar with news about you just from all the reports I've seen and the talks you've given. I've always been a bit of a believer anyway, so after the first bit of shock, it was actually pretty interesting to hang out with some ghosts."

"Even when they had their fun with you?" Katherine asked with a smirk.

"It wasn't so bad, kind of like a carnival ride after a while," he said with a chuckle. "Honestly, I've been more scared and dizzy on Tilt-a-Whirl rides at carnivals."

Katherine laughed. "Well, glad you got some fun out of it. I'm just glad they didn't hurt you. They're not... too malicious, they just enjoy their silly pranks. I would have stepped in to stop them if I had been a lot less drunk and, well... stupid at the time. Sorry about that."

"Don't be. I'd probably have been a total bore without them around to break the ice for us." He laughed. "Besides, you protected me the second time. You're my hero, Ms. Robison."

Katherine blushed. "Well, it would have been nice if they hadn't forced us to dance."

"Trust me, I don't mind. If I'm being honest, I was actually glad they set that up too. It was fun dancing with you." He smiled at her, and Katherine felt her knees go slightly weak. "I should probably be apologizing to you. You said no immediately, so... I'm sorry you had to put up with me and my lame dancing for a while." He chuckled.

Katherine shook her head quickly, hurting her head a bit before taking one his hands and giving it an affectionate squeeze. She couldn't believe this sweet, adorable man. "No, no... it's not like that at all. I just figured I'd taken up too much of your time. Didn't want to be a bother to you."

"I think what we're both getting at is we had a good time," Dustin said with a grin.

"Something like that," Katherine said, giggling. "Well... good night, Mr. Graves. Thank you for bringing me home. I needed a ride and that was a lot better than being flown back home."

He smiled. "No problem, Ms. Robison. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

"I'd like that. Would be nice to get to know more people around town..."

"In that case, would you, um... like my number?"

Katherine instinctively reached for her phone in her pocket... and something stopped her. "I... I'm sorry, I... I don't have a phone."

"Oh..." He couldn't hide the disappointment on his face. He looked rather disbelieving.

"I had one," she said quickly. "But it broke recently and I haven't gotten myself a new one. You know how it is, work and stuff."

He smiled. "Yeah, I know how it is. Maybe another time, then."

She nodded and he turned to walk away before looking back at her with a smile. "Good night, Ms. Robison."

"You... you can call me Katherine."

"Katherine," Dustin said, extending a hand and shaking hers. "In that case, call me Dustin." He winked at her. "Good night."

"Good night," Katherine said, watching him walk away guiltily before hurrying inside and closing the door behind her.

As Dustin made it to his car, a voice rang out. "Well, that was awkward!" Stella said, popping up out of nowhere in front of him and making him jump. "And it was so romantic at first too!"

"Yeah, tough luck, Graves!" Bertha said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "If it makes you feel better, you really know how to pour on the charm! Poor Katherine's just going through a lot right now." She kissed him on the cheek as he winced and rubbed at it. "Hey, I'm just giving you the kiss you missed out on with Katherine!" She laughed.

"Yeah, well... I don't move that fast, anyway," Dustin said with a nervous chuckle. He wasn't afraid of the sisters, but he was still a bit uneasy about talking so casually with ghosts. It was such a bizarre turn of events for him. He looked around. "Where's... um, your other sister?"

"Eh, she flew off somewhere. She's being all moody right now." Stella rolled her eyes. "Apparently, she wasn't all that happy to see you and Katherine getting along as well as you were. She wasn't as into it as we were."

"Yeah, for what it's worth, we're totally rooting for you crazy kids," Bertha said to Dustin with a genuine smile.

Dustin chuckled. "Thanks, girls. I appreciate that, I really do. Well, I should really be going..."

"Okay, but before you do, we got a message for you," Stella said.

"A message?"

"Yup... smell-o-gram!" She blasted him with her breath and the sisters laughed maniacally, flying away as Dustin stumbled around, coughing.

Katherine sighed, rubbing her forehead. "You really blew that one sky high, Katherine..."

"Hey mom!" Dean hurried over to his mom, giving her a hug. "I was worried about you."

"Hi, sweetie," Katherine said, hugging him back. "I'm sorry. It was... kind of an... unexpected night out."

"It's alright, Bertha explained it to us earlier when she brought the car in. I guess you really needed it after Kress, huh?"

"Unfortunately," Katherine said. "Bertha told you about that?"

"She just told me that Kress was being a... a very foul word I don't think you want me to say out loud." He chuckled at the look on her face. "But that's it. Did something happen?"

"Oh, you know, just business talk, but it's all taken care of, sweetie," Katherine said, kissing him on the head. "So what have you been doing all day?"

"We got some major news for you, Vera and I," Dean said with a grin. "Buuuut... that can wait until tomorrow. Right now, you're eating some dinner, if you're up for it, and then you're going to bed."

"Aww, but I wanna hear the news," Katherine protested.

Dean chuckled. "Nope. You can hear about it when you're able to read your notes clearly. Come on. If you're hungry, we made some fettucine alfredo."

"You did?" Katherine asked in amazement.

"Vera did," Dean admitted with a smirk. "I provided the ingredients."

"You did an amazing job of that, though," Vera said, flying into the room and beaming at him. "Welcome home, Ms. Robison."

"Thank you, sweetie," Katherine replied. As she walked shakily into the dining area and sat down, she watched Dean and Vera gather a plate for her while chatting excitedly and she sighed, rubbing her head with her hands. I really don't want to lose all this, especially what Dean has with Vera, but... Kress' offer is so unreasonable. There's no way we'll be able to handle all those payments. What do I do? What do I do, Jason?

Katherine blinked. Wow... I haven't done that in a while. Why...? Then she remembered Dustin and she felt a pain in her chest. Suddenly, she realized why she had hesitated to establish contact with Dustin. Oh my god... I'm so sorry, Jason.

"Dean, I'm... I think I'm just gonna go up to bed," Katherine said.

Dean looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not all that hungry, so I'm just gonna get some sleep..."

"Okay, here let me help you."

"I can walk just fine, baby," Katherine chuckled, standing up and immediately wobbling. "Oh..."

"Yeah," Dean said with a laugh. "Get over here and let me be a good son."

Katherine smiled, allowing him to help her up the stairs. "You're the best son I could ever ask for, Dean. You need to know that."

"I try," he said with a smirk. "Come on, almost there."

As he helped her sit down on her bed, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, mom. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart," she called as he lightly closed the door.

As soon as she was alone, she hugged a pillow close to her chest and began to weep into it.

Dustin pulled in to his apartment complex. He made his way up the stairs and pulled his keys out of his pocket, opening up his door and making his way inside. Almost immediately, there was a knock on his door, and he sighed, turning on the lights and opening the door. He immediately sighed in utter disgust.

Kathleen Kress.

"Hello, Kathleen."

"Hey, handsome," she said, making her way inside before he could protest.

"I made it pretty clear last time I want nothing to do with you anymore." He said, moving into his kitchen area to get himself some water. He winced as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Yeah, but I've recently made a big business deal that's gonna make me... us, richer than we could ever imagine," she purred into his ear.

"Good for you," he muttered, pulling away. "I'd say I don't care, but you're gonna tell me anyway."

"Ahh, joke's on you, babe," she said with a giggle. "If you agree to actually consider my offer this time, I'll let you in on it."

"No, thanks." He muttered, drinking his water. Ugh, tap water.

"I can tell you're having some... financial trouble lately." She looked around his apartment with a chuckle. "Looks like we're on the same level now, huh?"

"You ruined your own business and reputation," he muttered, pulling away. "My company laid me off. We're not on the same level. And trust me, I'm getting by just fine."

"Oh, yeah, I can tell," she said with a chuckle, looking around his apartment. "Where's the jacuzzi at?"

"Just keep proving my point for me," Dustin said, waving a dismissive hand at her. "I was getting tired of saying it over and over anyway. You're seriously too old to still be acting like this, Kathleen."

"Pbbft... you used to like it," she said, her hands on her hips.

"Yeah... back when I used to think it was some funny, cutesy act. That didn't last very long."

Kress sighed. "Look, Dustin... I know I made some bad deals before but I'm going to get it all back soon. Everything can go back to how it was before!"

"Do you honestly think the problem was how much money you had?" he asked exasperatedly.

"What do you mean? That's what you said to me!"

Dustin rubbed the temples of his aching head. "No, Kathleen. I said that your money was replacing everything in your mind, even people. Even me."

He tried not to smirk as he said, "It just so happened that you had just blown your entire fortune and didn't have any at that point." He had once been sympathetic to her. But that had been before he had realized the kind of person she truly was. "So I guess, once again, all you heard was that you didn't have enough money and that was all you needed to fix everything. Because AGAIN, money is all that matters to you. That's why I left."

"But it's not the only thing that matters," she protested. "You matter to me. If it was just money, why would I come here to see you? Why would I offer to take you back?"

"For the same reason you kept trying to get me to stop working back then because you had enough money. Because you like the idea of being in total control of me. Just like with that poor girl Penny. Just like with everyone who ever worked for you. But I never gave in, did I? And you never liked that. I was that one person who didn't let you take control. And you hate that. You want to be the big boss, but guess what? I already have a boss, and I don't need two pains in the ass in my life. Now if you would be so kind..." He pointed at the door. "Please go."

Kress looked at him in shock and slowly made her way to the door. As she touched the knob, she huffed and turned back to glare at him. "Fine, then. Enjoy rotting away here in this disgusting roach-infested apartment for all I care. When I start living in my new mansion estate, you're gonna be sorry you said no to me. Maybe I'll take you back when you come crawling back!" She slammed the door behind her.

"I ain't the one doing the crawling," he muttered to the air as he set his glass into the sink, eager to get to bed and catch up on sleep. Thankfully, it was Friday night and he didn't have to go in tomorrow like he sometimes did on his precious Saturdays.

Suddenly, a chair from his small table slid out from the table and went towards him. "Wha!" He gasped, falling back into it as it turned around and brought him back to the table. Lena appeared, sitting on the table with a very angry look as she grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Okay, asshole, what's your game with Katherine?"

"Whoa, hold on..." Dustin protested, holding up his hands as she lifted him to his feet.

"What, did that bitch send you after her? You gonna convince her to not give up on the house and be a good mom to her kid and then when you've had your fun, run off with all the money?!"

"Please, wait a second..." Dustin said, shrinking in fear as Lena seemed to expand in her rage.

She released his shirt and blew a blast of air at him, nearly knocking him and the chair backwards but thankfully his seat didn't fall. "Talk," she commanded, crossing her arms tightly.

Dustin took a deep breath to steady himself. "First of all, I have no earthly idea what you're talking about. I don't know what Kress has to do with Katherine or anything you just said. All I know is... Kress is an ex-girlfriend of mine, and I want nothing to do with her. She came in here trying to win me over about some big grand deal she had just made and tried to win me over with money as usual, but I blew her off. That's it, I swear."

He took a breath. "And as for Katherine, well... she made up an excuse for why she couldn't accept my number just now. I didn't buy it for a second, but I didn't push it either. Wasn't my place. Point is, I don't think you need to worry about me and Katherine being... well, anything." He looked sad about that, and Lena relaxed herself, allowing herself to finally think clearly.

Kress had looked particularly pissed off just now as she was leaving. She hadn't really thought about why that could be before going on the attack.

"She's trying to get Katherine to pay a ridiculous amount of money to keep her house... OUR house," Lena said, her mind racing with leftover anger. "Forcing her to make payment after payment if she wants to keep the house from being destroyed. And Katherine will probably do it because for some reason she thinks we're all such a big lovey-dovey family or whatever. And my stupid sisters are probably gonna encourage her to stay and..." She sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever. It's not your business."

"Well, I mean... it wasn't, but then you barged in here and kind of made it my business," Dustin pointed out.

Lena glared at him.

"Hey, you know it's true," he said with a shrug. "Were you not listening to our conversation while you were invisible? Actually, why did you even follow me home?"

"I..." Lena felt embarrassed now. She had followed Dustin to confront him anyway about potentially having bad intentions with Katherine, and then she had seen Kress follow him into his apartment, which had sent her into a rage. She had waited outside, seething, waiting for a chance to confront him alone. She had never even thought about listening in on their conversation.

"Forget it. Let's just say I had my suspicions about you. But it looks like your story checks out, so I'm sorry I went off on you, alright? Just forget about it." She started to float off.

"You know I can't do that, right?" he said as she groaned, turning to look at him. "I guess I am glad you really went off on me just now, or else I wouldn't have known what that Kathleen was doing to Katherine."

"Yeah, well... there's not much you can do about it," She muttered. "The house is legally Kress's, so she can do what she wants. The only question is if Katherine's gonna play along."

"This all has to do with your youngest sister, right? Vera, I think was her name? Katherine mentioned her and..."

"Yeah, that's her. Katherine and her son are trying to help Vera remember her past because my little sister is a dimwit."

"Uh... why?"

"I know, right?"

"Um... no, I meant... why is she a dimwit?"

Lena rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't get it. Vera's so obsessed with remembering her life, but we decided a long time ago that remembering life wasn't worth the trouble. Why bother? We're ghosts. There is no happy ending to our life stories. It's only going to cause us more pain. So we decided to just embrace being ghosts. Enjoy our afterlife, and forget all about connecting with humans."

"You keep saying we... but you only mean you and Bertha and Stella, right?"

Lena looked at him. "What're you getting at?"

"Well, Katherine told me back at the bar that Vera really went off on you guys when you were messing with her and her son, because you always bullied her, and now she wants to get her memories back... so... I'm guessing Vera never really went along with your guys' philosophy, right?"

"What? Of course she did. She just started getting these ideas in her head ever since Katherine and Dean came along. Especially Dean."

"Well, did she agree with you because she wanted to? Or because she was too afraid to stand up to you before?"

"What? No! She... she always said..."

"We don't always say what we really mean," he said softly. "And sometimes we're blind to how other people feel. You make it sound like ghosts are separate from humans, but... we're really not. So... maybe there was just some miscommunication with you all? It's a human thing."

"We are NOT like humans," Lena snapped. "We've always been in perfect connection with each other. Before Katherine and Dean showed up."

"Again, are you talking about all four of you? Or are you talking about three of you, and the one little sister that you bullied for years?"

"ENOUGH!" Lena suddenly slammed her fist on the table, making Dustin jump. "You don't know anything about us. Nothing at all. So watch your mouth, or I'll make you regret it."

Dustin held up his hands in surrender. "Just an observation."

"Keep them to yourself."

"Alright. I do have one last question, though."

"Think carefully about it," she warned.

"What do you want Katherine to do? Do you want her to leave the house?"

"I..." Lena hesitated. "Yes... yes, I do. Just go and leave us in peace again."

Dustin resisted the urge to ask about that so-called "peace".

"I guess that makes sense. Otherwise, you probably would have gone to scare Kress off and void the whole deal, right?"

Lena didn't say anything. The fact that he was suggesting the same thing her sisters had made her angry.

"Well... in that case, maybe I can..." He sighed, trailing off.

"What?"

"Maybe I can... step in. Convince Kathleen to lower the price, go easier on Katherine."

"I thought you burned that bridge already." Lena pointed at the door of his apartment.

"Trust me, Kress doesn't give up that easily," he muttered. "I've broken up with her like seven times after the initial breakup. She always says she's done with me and then comes back, all the while telling me that I'll be the one crawling back to her. If I go apologize, and say I'm wrong, she'll accept it. The real problem is getting her to leave Katherine alone." Dustin looked thoughtful. "She'll still want a lot of money regardless, even if I talk her down. Maybe I can send some money from my job to Katherine to help out. It's not like I'm gonna need it. Not for a while, anyway."

"Why are you doing this?" Lena asked. He looked at her in confusion. "You don't even know Katherine. You talked to her for a few hours. Why would you put yourself through so much for her?"

"Because she's a sweet, lovely woman and I hate the idea of her being taken advantage of by that harpy of an ex of mine." He shrugged. "I admit, if it wasn't Kress, maybe I wouldn't bother. Maybe I'd think it's none of my business. So I kind of have something of a personal stake in this." He shrugged. "I'm not perfect.

"Still, I'm used to Kress. If it means helping Katherine out, I can swallow my pride for a while and... I don't know. Get back on Kathleen's good side. I mean, I don't plan on doing it for the rest of my life, of course. But... maybe long enough for Vera to get what she wants? I don't know. Just an idea. Something, anything to help Katherine out."

Lena said nothing, looking at the floor. He doesn't have to do this. All we have to do is go and scare Kress off for good. It'd be so easy. I can't just let him go through with this... ruin his life for however long it takes just to help us out... help Katherine out. Help Katherine out. That's what I meant. I can't let him... I...

"Yeah, maybe you should," Lena found herself saying with a shrug. "I don't know... it's your decision, not mine." With that, she flew out of his apartment without giving him a chance to respond.

She flew back home quickly. She watched the rushing images below her. Anything to distract her. Anything to keep her from admitting that there could be a human, a man even, that was that good at heart.