AN: I'm so sorry it's taken me two years to update this story, but I promise I am still writing it!
Emil started his investigation into Gilbert's murder by looking him up. He found an article in the school's newspaper that mentioned his death.
"Yep, it says it was an accident. His blood alcohol level was .07. Isn't that below the driving limit?"
"That's at the time he was examined," Lukas answered. "It was probably a little higher before he died."
"That's still not very high!" yelled the ghost himself as he swept into the room.
"You can't keep barging into my room," Emil replied. "But you're right, that doesn't seem drunk enough to flip over the railing by yourself."
"Does that mean you'll investigate?"
"There's not much investigating I can do, but I guess I can try to make a list of suspects."
"It'll be a short list of suspects, because everyone loved me."
"Somehow I doubt that," Lukas sneered.
"You got something to say to me, newbie?"
"It says you were on the football team," Emil interrupted, and Gil's glare turned into a bright smile.
"That's right, I became the quarterback after only a year on the team. Like I said, everyone loved me! I think Coach Anderson is still around, you can ask him yourself."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea." If he interviewed people who knew Gil when he was alive, maybe he could figure out who would have had motive to kill him.
Emil looked online and found that Coach Anderson was still around. "He has office hours this afternoon."
"Are you going to talk to him? I'm coming with you," Gil declared before scooting out the door excitedly.
"Emil, I don't like this," Lukas whispered.
"You can come, too," replied Emil.
"No, I have a bad feeling about all of this."
"I'll be careful, and this will get rid of him faster."
"Well, I do want him gone..."
Emil kissed him on the cheek. "I promise I'll be careful. I'll be back soon."
"Sorry to drop in like this. My name is Emil Steilsson, and I'm writing an article about Gilbert Beilschmidt."
"About Gil?" The coach scrutinized him.
"Yeah, for my journalism class."
"Oh alright, yeah I can talk to you about him. He was a good kid and a great athlete. I chose him as quarterback his sophomore year, which was pretty impressive."
"What did his teammates think of him?"
"Well, I think it upset a few players that he got the position over upperclassmen, but he really deserved it. He was also pretty full of himself, so he got on people's nerves. But I think overall he got along with everyone."
"He's totally downplaying how awesome I am," Gil complained.
"Were there any players he didn't get along with?" Emil asked, taking down notes and ignoring the ghost.
"There was his rival, although now it seems silly to call him that. Our rival team's quarterback at the time, Ivan Braginsky."
"Oh I remember that asshole!"
"How intense was their rivalry?" Emil pressed, writing down the name, or at least how he thought it might be spelled.
"Gil was really good at pushing people's buttons, especially with Ivan. They actually got into a couple of physical fights after games. I don't know how they had the energy..."
After a series of questions regarding Gil's relationships, Emil left the coach's office with the ghost in tow and almost ran right into another boy outside the door. The moment he saw the mess of blonde hair, his stomach dropped, and so did his notebook.
"Emil!" Mathias exclaimed in surprise, eyes flicking between the boy and the ghost in front of him.
Emil stared at his ex-boyfriend in silence. Mathias shifted awkwardly before bending over and picking up the notebook.
"Where's Lukas?" he asked, holding it out for Emil to take.
"What do you care?" he spat back, yanking the notebook from his hands. He shoved past Mathias and walked briskly down the hallway.
"Who was that?" Gil asked when they turned the corner.
"No one," Emil grumbled.
"Ooh, was that Mathias?"
"Do you ever shut the hell up?"
"I've seen him around, he's on the football team. He doesn't really seem like your type."
"Gilbert, if you don't shut your damn mouth, I swear I'll exorcise you."
The spirit gaped at him in shock but managed not to say anything. When they got back to the dorm, he disappeared onto another floor.
Emil entered his dorm room and collapsed onto his bed. "That was really stupid of me," he groaned into his pillow.
"What happened?" Lukas asked, shifting over to make room for his boyfriend.
"I went to talk to the football coach, not even thinking about the fact that Mathias is on the football team here."
"...Did you run into him?"
"Yes, he saw me with Gil and asked where you were." Emil laughed sardonically. "He probably thinks I left you for another ghost or something."
Lukas didn't say anything in response to that, but he gently rubbed the other boy's back.
"You deserve to know what happened with him, but it's only going to hurt you."
"I'm already hurt," Lukas responded quietly. "Besides, you shouldn't have to deal with it alone."
Emil burst into tears. "He said he didn't want to be around ghosts anymore."
Lukas let out a burst of breath like someone had just punched him in the gut. Gingerly, he lay down next to Emil. "Well, I suppose there's nothing else to say then."
Emil turned to look at the spirit, but Lukas's face betrayed no emotion. He hugged the ghost tightly and cried into his chest while Lukas ran his fingers through the boy's hair.
"I'm sorry," Lukas breathed. Emil barely heard him over his own sobs.
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
Lukas didn't answer. He stood up and began pacing the room. Emil sat up to watch him, wiping his tears.
"Lukas, why would you be sorry?"
The ghost finally met his eyes, but his face was blank.
"You…you liked Mathias for so long before I ever came around. Now he's gone because of me."
"What?"
"He doesn't want to be around ghosts." He resumed his pacing, his hands tensing at his sides.
"I don't think it was about you, Lukas," Emil said slowly, and his boyfriend let out a dry laugh.
"Not about me? Look at me, Emil." He reached an arm out, and it went through the wall. "Who was the ghost in the relationship? Neither one of you. Hell, I don't think Mathias ever really liked me, he just tolerated me for you. And I ruined that for you."
"Lukas, don't be stupid! The three of us were together for nearly two years, do you really think it would have lasted that long if he only tolerated you? Look, I'm the one who pushed him away by training to be a medium!"
His boyfriend didn't look up from his arm, still stuck halfway into the wall. Emil jumped off his bed and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Look, I don't blame you for the breakup, I blame Mathias. He was unhappy in the relationship, and instead of talking to us about it, he decided to bail. It was a dick move, end of story."
"He always was a dick," Lukas added softly. Emil snorted and hugged his boyfriend tightly. "Emil, I don't want to lose you, too, but I don't know how we can stay together."
"I'm not going to leave, I don't want to lose you either."
"But you're alive, and I'm dead. You're going to grow older, and I'm going to stay the same. The only other option is for me to move on."
"No, there's another option." Emil took a deep breath and looked Lukas in the eyes. "I haven't wanted to tell you, because I didn't want you to be disappointed if it turns out to be impossible. But the Väinämöinens know of a ritual that could bring you back."
"Bring…me…back?" Lukas's arms fell to his sides. If he wasn't already deathly pale, Emil would have sworn he had gone a shade or two whiter. "Bring me back to life?"
"Uh, yeah."
"That's why you've been training so hard."
"Yes."
"And you didn't want to tell me, because you're not sure if it's really true?"
"Right, they've never tried it before."
Lukas plopped onto the bed, staring off into the distance. Emil had never seen him so shocked, not when he found out Mathias had dumped them, not when his parents had shown up at his grave, not even when he realized Berwald could see him.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "Did Mathias know?"
"Well, he was there when Tino first mentioned it to me, but no, I never told him I was seriously pursuing it."
"Why have you been keeping all of this to yourself?"
"I told you, I didn't want to—"
"And then you say that Mathias didn't talk to us about what was really going on. Seems I was the only one who wasn't keeping any secrets."
"I guess so."
Lukas grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down onto the bed next to him. "No more secrets, okay?"
"Okay," Emil promised, and they kissed softly. "Is that…something you'd want?"
"To come back to life?"
"Yes."
"Absolutely." It was a just a whisper, but there was no hint of doubt in his voice. They kissed again, much less softly. Lukas pulled away, leaving Emil panting ever so slightly. "Besides," he said lowly, "how else will I ever meet your parents?