Phantom bit his lip. This was getting….awkward. Five minutes ago, Jazz and Fenton had left for school. Now he was sitting at the table and watching while his parents finished their breakfast. Their conversation had lulled to a stop and the ghost felt like something of an intruder. Not that he didn't belong but usually he'd be on his way to school right now. Mom and Dad would finish their meal, just the two of them. Maybe they discussed their plans for the day or talked about...whatever the two of them talked about when they were alone. But Phantom was here and…. He glanced to the side, towards the stairs. He could get up and do something but… that would be rude, though, wouldn't it? Yes, he normally wasn't here right now but he didn't want them to think that he didn't want to be around them. Although...

Dad standing up to take his bowl to the sink got the ghost's attention. Figuring breakfast was over, he floated out of his chair and towards the stairs.

Mom held up a hand. "Wait."

Phantom paused at the serious tone. "Yes?"

"Before you do anything else, I have chores for you." The woman frowned. The ghost swallowed. True to his suspicions, Mom did have a list of things for him to do today. She continued. "You need to unload and load the dishwasher, dust the living room, and vacuum."

The boy nodded. "Okay." Some of the tension in his shoulders lessened. That didn't sound too bad.

"I want every room vacuumed."

Phantom's frown deepened. He'd thought too soon. "Every room?"

"Yes, every room." Mom crossed her arms.

"Except the lab!" Dad cut in.

"Except the lab." Mom agreed with a nod. "But you need to vacuum the rest of the house."

"But….the whole house?" The ghost whined.

"Yes. The whole house." She pointed. "And do not do it half way, Daniel. Get under the furniture, pick up clutter in the floor, vacuum under the rugs too."

"But-" The boy started, almost begging with wide eyes.

"I'm sure we can find something else if that's not enough. All the closets need to be reorganized, your laundry that has been on the bathroom floor needs to be washed, you could scrub the toilets..." Mom said, just pointedly enough to show she was serious.

Phantom's mouth snapped shut. "No. I'll...I'll do it."

At the stuttering, Mom's expression softened. "You still have your phone. You can listen to music while you work."

Dad then cut in. "And you can watch TV once you're finished.

"Okay." The ghost's shoulders remained low, a frown still planted on his face. He floated towards the dishwasher. "I'll get started then."

His mother stood up. "Alright then, sweetie." She put her dishes in the sink. "We'll be downstairs if you need us."

Giving a small wave, Phantom watched his parents walk through the door to the basement and close it. Once they were out of earshot, he groaned and put his head in his hands. Why...just...why? Frustration boiled through him. Stupid chores. Stupid grounding. Why couldn't he just have brought his phone last night? Or just not lose track of time?

With an annoyed sigh, the boy lifted his head and shook it. Still huffing, he floated to the couch, where he'd left in headphones to charge before he went to get his suit this morning. After setting up the phone to play some music, the ghost boy put the headphones in and started doing his chores.

Bobbing his head, Phantom dried and put away the dishes. It was a flurry of motion, putting serving utensils, pots, pans, and plates in their places. All the while he hummed and swayed to the music. The ghost spun around to put silverware in the drawer before closing it with a clatter. He grabbed another dish towel and whipped some stray water droplets from the ceramic plate in his hands. A circular motion and the plate was dry. He stretched slightly to put it in the cabinet above the dishwasher. With the constant motion and the pleasing music, Phantom got lost in the action. Before he even noticed, he was whipping the last dish and easily placing it in the cupboard with the others. Closing the door, he looked down at the dishwasher. Huh, he was done. That wasn't so bad…..

He blinked, looking slightly up at the stack of plates behind the glass and wood door. That was the highest shelf. He normally had to stretch into his tippy toes to reach it. But he'd barely exerted himself. Phantom glanced down again. He was floating, as always but slightly higher. He must have floated high enough to reach without noticing. The ghost lowered himself slightly and turned around. It was surprising; he was comfortable enough with the floating to just do it without thought. He moved up and down in the air just as naturally as he could walk. It was still weird but actually...good that he could use that power so comfortably.

With that thought, Phantom turned his attention back to the chores after putting the dishes from breakfast in the dishwasher. Up next, dusting the living room. He grabbed the duster from the closet and got started. More head bobbing, swaying, and humming occupied him as he dusted the end tables, the coffee table, the book cases. He floated up and dusted around the knick knacks on top of the shelves. It was nice, not having to get the stepping stool to reach up here. With the good music motivating him, Phantom finished dusting soon enough. He put the duster away and turned his attention to the last chore. Vacuuming.

The more pleasant expression on the ghost's face fell. The other chores weren't all the bad but...he hated vacuuming. The machine was heavy and cumbersome, a pain to drag around the house and carry up and down the stairs. It was noisy and the cord inevitably got in the way. And it was tiring. Something about the exertion always got him so sweaty.

Huffing, Phantom floated up the stairs and dragged the vacuum cleaner out of the laundry room on the second floor. Pulling the hose and attachments out of the room, he attached the parts. Then, plugging in the cord, he flipped the power switch. The device immediately started whining. Then he pressed the handle and it started roaring. Phantom groaned again, rubbing his head. Stupid, loud machine. He turned up the music in an effort to drown out the grating sound. It only worked partially.

Muttering annoyedly to himself, the ghost started vacuuming down the hallway. He passed over one of the rugs, cursing as the vacuum got caught in one of the corners. With a huff, he turned off the suction and pulled the fabric out of the bottom. Standing up, he turned the vacuum back on. "Stupid rug! Why does it always do that?" He complained through gritted teeth.

He continued, lifting the rugs and vacuuming under. Inside his room, Jazz's room, the guest bedroom. He lifted objects off the floor and placed them on the bed and other furniture. He barely managed to stop the vacuum from sucking up one of his jackets that was stuffed under his bed. The ghost grumbled as the cord pulled out of the wall after he stretched the cord too far. But he continued, cleaning every room on the second floor.

Finally, Phantom stopped at the top of the stairs. He'd turned the machine off, wrapped up the cord. And now he paused a moment before wrestling the cumbersome beast downstairs. He stretched, loosening his arms…..which normally would be tired by now. With a confused frown, the ghost wiped his forehead. Normally he'd be kinda sweating too. Huh…..actually he wasn't feeling any of the stain, the tiredness in his muscles he'd normally feel. Interesting….then again, he was pretty sure ghosts didn't have muscles like humans did. And why would ghosts sweat when they don't get tired in the same way a human does? Then again...this was still all so strange.

Pushing away that thought, Phantom picked up the vacuum and carried it down the stairs. Okay...that was easier than normal too. He looked down at the machine. Maybe he transferred some of his weightlessness to it, like he did to Fenton last night. Reaching the foot of the stairs, he deliberately placed his feet on the floor and let gravity reengage. He gasped, startled as the vacuum instantly felt heavier. Yep, that was definitely it.

Again, the ghost pulled the vacuum along the floor. He unwound the cord and plugged it in. More vacuuming. He started in the living room, again moving magazines, books, papers, a laundry basket full of clothes to be folded, off of the floor. He passed easily over the open area and between the furniture. He finished passing over every inch of floor he could reach without moving any furniture. He turned off the machine and put his hands on his hips, studying the armchair in front of him. He moved to push it out of the way to vacuum the floor it was currently occupying.

Then an idea crossed his mind. Could he maybe vacuum under it without moving the chair? He crouched down, finding nothing underneath. He could proceed. With a small smile, he grabbed the device again and turned it on. Phantom focused on his core, on the cold tingly feeling of intangibility. As his hand became translucent with a bluish tint, he pushed the feeling out. Like when he rescued Sam, when he pulled Fenton through the changing room door at Hot Topic. The color spread through the machine he was touching, from the handle, through the hose, to the base of the machine. It was turning intangible. It was….

The roaring of the vacuum stopped. Frowning, Phantom squeezed the handle more tightly. (Interestingly, he could still feel it below his palm as if he and the machine were both untouchable to the rest of the world together.) Nothing happened. Letting go, he tried again. The intangibility spread and the noise stopped. So….it couldn't work when it was intangible.

The boy removed his hand and crossed his arms. Well, if he couldn't turn the vacuum intangible to pass it through the chair, then maybe… He turned the chair intangible. The wavy, bluish outline took the object's place and the ghost pushed the vacuum through. It continued roaring, moving back and forth freely.

"Yes! It worked." Phantom exclaimed, a grin planting itself on his face.

"What are you doing?" His mom's voice rang out behind him.

Startled, his head whipped up to find the woman standing at the top of the stairs to the lab. He'd been so absorbed in his problem solving that he hadn't heard her come up the stairs. "Umm….vacuuming?" It sounded more like a question than an answer.

Mom pinned him with a skeptical look and pointed. "Are you turning my chair intangible to...vacuum under it?"

The ghost looked down at the intangible piece of furniture, which he was still touching. He pulled the machine out from the space and removed his hand. The forest green coloration of the chair returned as it became solid. Phantom let go of the handle and the roar lessened into a whine. The ghost boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhhh...yeah."

Mom blinked, part confused, part skeptical, part disapproving. "You can just move the chair, sweetie."

The boy shrugged, trying to sound casual. "Or I could just turn it intangible and push the vacuum through it."

His mother blinked again, her mouth opening and closing. Complex emotions flashed through her eyes but she mainly looked uncomfortable, thrown off kilter. She looked like she wanted to argue but had no idea how to even respond. Her lip tightened in something that could be disapproval. She then shook her head. "Why don't you stop vacuuming for now and come down to the lab with me?"

"Uhh…" Phantom stiffened, unsure what to make of the request. Was she trying to distract him, after being so thrown off by his display of ghost powers? Or was that a genuine request? She had come up the stairs for some reason.

Mom's expression softened. "We never did finish getting readings from you. If you wouldn't mind, your father and I want to finish them today."

"But….I'm not done." His core pulsed nervously as he looked down at the vacuum.

"You can finish later." She said flatly.

"But-"

"I promise, this will not take long, Danny. And like last time, we will tell you everything we're doing and will stop if you feel uncomfortable at all." Mom reassured sincerely.

Phantom sighed. "Alright."

After turning off the vacuum, the ghost deliberately put his feet on the floor. He followed his mother down the stairs. Once at the foot, he paused, eyes flitting around the room. The slightly flickering fluorescent lights, the sterile metal tables, the partly assembled ghost containment unit. He bit his lip, nervously. He didn't want to be down here, not after last time.

"Danny-boy!" Dad's excited exclamation cut through his souring mood. "You're gonna help your folks out for a bit, aren't ya?"

At his father's enthusiasm, Phantom smiled despite his anxiety. "Yeah." He walked forward to stand across from the man who was sitting at one of the tables with papers in front of him.

Phantom titled his head, taking in the familiar design. "The ghost catcher?"

Dad nodded. "Yep. I'm looking over the blueprints again." He tapped his chin. "I've been thinking about how to reverse the polarity of the field."

The ghost raised a brow. "What does that mean?"

Mom walked up beside him. "Instead of causing real world matter and ectoplasm to repeal each other, the two would be attracted."

Phantom blinked, wrinkling his nose in confusion. "Like magnets?"

"Actually yes." Mom affirmed. "With magnets, like poles will repel each other, like two north or two south poles. But unlike poles will attract each other, like how a north and a south pole would be drawn together."

The boy nodded. Then his eyes widened as realization dawned. "Wait...does that mean we'll be able to merge?"

"Once we figure out how to alter the ghost catcher." Dad answered with a confident smile.

But Mom's expression was more subdued, more cautious. "We have to figure out how to eliminate the residual particles first. And there may be other considerations, like the memory question that was brought up this morning."

"Oh." The ghost's hopeful smile fell and he glanced down.

After a pause, there was a feminine sigh in front of him. "Sweetie." The boy looked up, meeting his mother's kind eyes. "We will figure this out."

"Yep, we're on it." Dad stood up and walked around the table. He patted the ghost version of his son on the back. "Let's go ahead and get started on collecting that data."

Nervousness surged into Phantom again. He tried to smile anyway, casually waving off the comment. "Yeah. Yeah."

Mom stepped away, walking back towards another table. She pulled out a stool, the same one she'd had him sit on before. "Come here, Danny." She patted the seat, motioning him to sit down.

The boy did so, wiggling slightly as he settled down. He watched Mom busily gather and arrange supplies. After grabbing a notebook and flipping it open, she turned to him. "We're going to continue where we left off last time, after we finished with the samples." The woman picked up the stethoscope and placed it around her neck. She held up the circular metal end. "We'll start with this if that's alright with you."

The boy raised a brow, looking between it and his own chest. "What are you gonna use it for?" He wrung his hands. "I mean, I know what you'd normally listen for but…. I….uhhh..I ...don't really have either right now."

"Danny, sweetie." Mom held up her hands, seemingly to stop the ramble. But her paled face and wide eyes just increased his anxiety.

Phantom shook his head and waved his hands. His speech quickened. "Well, technically, I guess...I guess I do have those..those...ya know." The ghost tilted his head back and forth, biting his lip. "I mean I do but not…"

He motioned up and down his body. Somehow Mom's eyes were even wider. The boy glanced at his father, who looked far too uncomfortable. He hated that look and wanted it to go away, for the mood of lighten. "I guess you could say I...uhh…"

The shadow of a heart beat pounded in his chest and part of his mind screamed to stop talking. But with an attempt at joking , the words came out. "I left my heart in my other body."

Mom's eyes just about popped out of her skull and Dad made a noise that could be a choke or could be a laugh. Phantom's own eyes widened. His hand slammed over his mouth. "Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that."

His eyes flashed brighter and the brief image of his desk in English class flashed through the boy's mind. At once he felt stupid. The 'part of his mind' that had been screaming to stop was literally Fenton, who was seeing and feeling this too, while also sitting in class. There was a spike of panic at the thought.

"I think we managed to only say that out of one mouth." Phantom's body spoke the words but neither could tell if Fenton or Phantom said them. But...may it had been both. Actually, probably both deciding to speak at the same time out of the same mouth.

"This is so confusing...You're telling me." Phantom's head shook. "No. Stop. We need to stop." He glanced up at his parents who were looking at him (them?) like he'd grown another head. Didn't they technically have two heads? No. Stop that. Another head shake. "I'm Phantom right now. I'm in the lab with Mom and Dad. Just here with them." A deep breath with illusionary lungs. The ghost half, just the ghost half, mentally centered himself. "You're Fenton. You're at school, in English class." A Pause. A greenish tongue licked pale lips. "I'm in English-" Phantom put his head in his hands. "Stop using my mouth." He muttered. More loudly. "We need to be two, right now. Two not….one but not."

Still looking down, Phantom took several more breaths. He pushed the nervousness down and away, the intense emotion that had drawn him and Fenton together. Focus. The metal stool under him, the chill of the room, the hum of electronics. He needed to be here, all here, present. In just the one body, not split between two. (Except he was split between two. He was split into a ghost half and a human half. And he did not want to just be Phantom. He wanted to be Fenton and Phantom at the same time, just Danny. He wanted to be whole.) No. The ghost shook his head. Right now he couldn't think about that. He needed to just be one half now, just here. Eventually, they'd re-fuse and he wouldn't have to worry about this but now he was just Phantom. Another breath. Agreement, Assurance from his other half. He could feel the human retreat with a sheepish apology. Softly, a mental door swung closed, separating him and Fenton.

Phantom stayed like that for a few moments, his head in his hands. It was silent and the lack of sound was grating. But the ghost could feel the eyes on him, almost sensing the questioning and fearful looks.

"Danny?" Mom's quiet voice asked tentatively.

Struggling, the ghost boy lifted his head. It, with his whole body, felt so heavy. "I'm just…." He tensed, cutting himself off. I'm just Phantom, he'd wanted to say. He wasn't really their Danny but half of him. But...Mom's eyes were wide, almost fearful. She looked like she was shaking. And Dad…..Dad was silent, all the previous joy and excitement gone from his eyes. Both his parents looked stricken, like they just saw something deeply unsettling.

His core clenched painfully at the sight. They had seen and heard all of that. Talking about himself in third person (at least from their perceptive). Arguing, holding a literal conversation with himself. He must look like he was insane.

"I'm fine." Phantom forced the words out.

Mom opened and closed her mouth. Her face hardened slightly, like she might want to argue.

Then Dad cut in, uncharacteristically quiet. "What was that son?"

"Nothing." The boy spit out.

Mom frowned, deeply troubled. Both parents quickly looked between each other. The woman swallowed. "Is that what you wrote about? You and your other half, seeing out of each other's eyes." She said slowly, tentatively like the words themselves pained her.

Phantom wrapped his arms around himself. "Yeah." He nodded, deciding to be honest. Or at least honest enough for them to forget about this and move on. "We...uhh...we can sometimes speak out of each other's mouths too." He flinched; that sounded disturbing. "Or...speak as one." He wrung his hands. "I was nervous and it's more likely to happen if there's strong emotions and we're not together."

There was another pause as Mom studied him. The ghost struggled to decipher her expression. Then the woman rubbed her forehead. "Your counterpart's at school. In English class, you said. If that happens, there. If other people see…." Alarmed, she looked at her husband. "Do we need to pull the other Danny out of school until we can fix this?"

"No." Phantom spit out. "Don't, please."

Mom crossed her arms but her expression was pitying. "Sweetie. We don't want to but what if you get in trouble at school or someone sees?"

What if someone sees...what a freak you are? The boy knew that wasn't what she meant but the thought passed his mind anyway. His core clenched but he pushed the thought away.

Phantom swallowed. "Fenton's not gonna get in trouble. And….no one will see anything. The other me was trying to not physically react where he is. That's why you guys even saw everything from this end, which probably made the reaction worse."

Mom furrowed her brow, studying him thoughtfully. "Sweetie…." Her voice hitched up, as if she was going to argue.

The boy's eyes widened, almost beggingly. "We're already grounded. And I...I can barely leave the house." His lips turned down in a frown. "If you take Fenton out of school…." The boy stopped. He wanted to say, after all the insanity that had been his life (afterlife?) since the accident, not being able to go to school and see his friends that would take away his last bit of normalcy. But he couldn't force out the words. It felt too honest, too desperate.

He swallowed, changing tactics. "We'll fall behind." He rubbed the back of his neck. "We already missed so much this year and it's already been hard to keep up. And then being split's made it harder to concentrate on my school work." The words were true, though not his real reason to convince Mom and Dad who both still looked unsure. The boy looked between them and blinked up at them innocently, hoping the last words would convince them. "And you don't want me to fall behind right."

There was a pause as the adults looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them. Finally, Mom sighed. "Alright. We won't pull your counterpart out of school. "

"But if anything does happen, you need to tell us." Dad then said, seriously but kindly.

Phantom nodded. "Okay. We will."

Mom also nodded, seemingly accepting the statement. Then Dad took a step forward. "Are you okay to get started again, son?"

The ghost's eyes nervously flittered to the stethoscope around his mother's neck again. "Uh...I guess. Yeah." He bit his lip. "But still...uhh...what exactly are….you listening for?"

Mom pulled up a chair and sat down. "After last time, I rethought some things and want to listen to your core."

The boy tilted his head questioningly. "My core?"

"Yes." The woman affirmed. "Do you know what that is?"

"I think so." Phantom placed a hand over his chest. "It's right here. I think… it's where my powers come from."

Dad's brow furrowed questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"My core's like this...ball of cold energy in my chest. And I can kinda mentally draw power from it. Like if I do this." Concentrating, he summoned a small ectoblast into his hand.

"Is that ectoenergy?" Dad's eyes lit up and the enthusiasm was infections. Lips turning up into a smile, Phantom coaxed more energy from his core and the flame-like neon green light grew. His father also smiled and turned to the other adult. "Madds, will you look at that?"

The woman's face remained neutral. "You did that on Sunday night, didn't you?"

"Yeah." The boy's memory returned to the conversation just after he'd been eavesdropping, the brief fear that had flashed in his parents' eyes at the sudden display of power. His light dimmed. "I didn't mean to do it then but...I can control it now...or at least do it on purpose." He jutted his lip out in a slightly sad pout.

"That's good, son." Dad gave what was almost a proud smile. His eyes fixed on the energy, the green light reflecting off his eyes and he pointed at the boy's hands. "What does it feel like?"

Phantom blinked, looking down at his hands. "It's kinda like...a cold flame, if that makes any sense." He drew more energy into his hand again. "I mean, it flickers like fire but it's cold, really cold. But...it doesn't hurt me." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Actually, it's kinda nice, like going in a pool on a hot day."

"Wow." Dad's voice was tinted with awe. His hands moved forward. "Can I feel it?"

The ghost's eyes widened in surprise at the request but before he could agree, Mom interjected.

"Jack." She tapped the man's arm pointedly. "That's not…" She looked at the ectoenergy warily. "That's not a good idea."

"Oh." Dad lowered his hands, suddenly frowning. "Maybe not."

Pain pricked the ghost's core from the sharpness of her tone. He could hear the unspoken rebuke. 'Jack, don't touch that. It's dangerous.' As if he would ever hurt them. As if he was dangerous. The boy shook his head. No, she didn't mean it like that. He frowned, looking at his own hands. And besides...he'd seen the damage he'd done to those trees with this power. He very well could hurt someone, even without meaning to.

Mom coughed. "How about we get back to what we were doing?"

Phantom swallowed. "Alright."

Nodding, Mom pulled her chair closer. She moved the ear pieces of the stethoscope into her ear and held up the round end. Slowly she placed the circular metal piece onto his chest. There was silence for about thirty seconds as she listened. Her face scrunched up in thought, becoming increasingly bewildered. The woman pursued her lips and removed the pieces from her ears. "Well, I hear something." She wrinkled her nose. "It is rhythmic but doesn't sound like a heartbeat."

"Huh." Phantom hummed thoughtfully. He eyed the medical device. "Can I listen?"

With a raised brow, Mom handed over the stethoscope. Ghost Danny positioned the pieces in his ears and the head over his core. With furrowed brow, he listened. It was rhythmic, like Mom said, and didn't sound like a heart. But neither of those were surprising; he could feel the regular pulse in his chest. But the noise? There was an almost liquid churning and a high pitched electric buzz. He pulled the earpieces out. "It sounds like….a mix between the washing machine and that buzz that a light bulb makes."

"Really?" Dad held out his hand, reaching for the stethoscope. "Give it here, son."

Phantom did as he was asked, handing over the device. Dad then listened for half a minute, his eyes widening in awe. "So that's what a ghost core sounds like. I wonder…" He trailed off, eyes narrowing in concentration. He glanced at his watch before mouthing something. Was he...counting? An awkward minute of silence passed before the man moved the metal piece off of Phantom's chest. He turned to the other adult. "Maddie, do we have the other heart rate numbers we measured?"

Mom gave him a puzzled look before, flipping through the notebook. "Right here."

She passed it to Dad, who looked over the page before writing something down. "Look at this." Dad pointed. The woman's eyes lit up at whatever she was seeing.

The ghost looked between the two, somewhat warily. "What is it?" He ventured.

Mom looked up. "Your dad counted your...well core-rate, I suppose." She shook her head. "The number of beats per minute." She frowned. "Beats may not be the right word."

"Beats?" Phantom wrinkled his brow. "You mean….the number of times it...pulses I guess….per minute."

"Pulses! That's it." Dad pointed. He turned the notebook around. "Look at those numbers, Danno! Isn't it amazing?"

The boy squinted, reading the small writing. "They're just numbers…."

"Let me explain sweetie." She pointed. "This is your heart rate in…. human form before going through the ghost catcher. This number is from the other Danny. And this." She tapped the number insistently. "Is from just now."

"Okay?" He still wasn't getting it.

Mom shook her head. "Compare the numbers, Danny."

"Well….Fenton's rates the highest, I guess. And mine's the lowest? And before the ghost catcher's in between."

"Exactly." Dad beamed.

Mom pinned the man with a serious look, before turning back to Phantom. She gently explained. "The rate before the ghost catcher is exactly between the other two rates."

The ghost blinked, looking at the numbers again. He quickly did some mental math. "Huh...it is." He frowned. "I still don't get what's so cool about that."

Dad held up his hands. "It means your core and heart were beating to the same rhythm before the ghost catcher."

The woman side-eyed her husband before correcting. "It suggests that. But if that was the case, that would also show how synchized your two forms were."

Phantom nodded skeptically. "I guess it would….." He then raised a brow, looking at Dad. "But we don't actually know that?" The boy fought not to frown. Sadly, he didn't really know how his ghost and human forms fit together when all of him was in one body. Before, he'd been too afraid of his ghostliness to really investigate what was happening to him. He was learning now, getting used to being a ghost but….he still didn't really know.

"Well...no." Dad tilted his head. "But that's why we're getting all the data we can now."

"Yes." Mom agreed. "How about we keep going?"

"Yeah." Phantom affirmed.

The ghost and his parents continued.

Note:

Thanks for reading! As always, I am so grateful for all the support I've received in writing this story. I love hearing your thoughts which always encourage me so much.
I also wanted to let everyone know, I'm taking a break from this story to write some oneshots for Ectober. So far, I'm planning a tie-in story to Life and Death is all Perspective, a second part to Missing Persons, and another part of It was an accident, I swear. Hopefully all of those will happen before the end of October. But come November, I'll be back to this story!