Thank you for all the kind reviews! I was incredibly flattered by the interest in this story so I pushed myself to get this chapter through just for you all. *3* -throws love and sparkles and cake at everyone- Some people mentioned this story brought to mind the movie "Ghost" with Reese Witherspoon. To be honest, I had never even heard of the movie before writing this so I wikipedia'd it. This story, however, won't be like the movie. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective. Anyways, happy reading!

Summary: Matthew's new roommate is cheerful and annoying, and tends to enter the bathroom without knocking while Matthew's in the shower. Oh, and he's also a ghost.

Pairing: eventual Alfred/Matthew

Warnings: AU, butchering of supernatural ideas, OOCness, slash, language, other warnings I might be forgetting

Disclaimer: I don't own, trust me that's a good thing.

Alfred watched with interest as the two men (who he now knew as Gilbert and Matthew) carried in box after box from where he was perched on the kitchen counter. Leaning back on his hands and idly kicking his legs, the ghost watched as the two joked around. Rather wistfully, Alfred was reminded of his own past life, of hanging out with his buddies, of messing around with Arthur.

Arthur.

Alfred smiled sadly, wondering how the sandy-haired man was doing. The Brit had been his friend since they first entered college together and then was his roommate during their final year.

It was an altogether disastrous experience.

After a few months of getting along, Arthur's stringent and, honestly, anal-retentive ways had grated on Alfred, who was far more easy-going and independent. Arthur, who stayed up late working, racked up the energy bill and fully expected Alfred to pay extra. Alfred retaliated by dumping the green-eyed man's favorite tea down the toilet.

Their apartment had shook with screamed arguments and the two had nearly come to blows more than once. Arthur had woken up one day and found that all of Alfred's furniture had been missing. However, the blond had accidently left behind a bottle of shampoo.

Alfred found it later that day, dumped all over his car.

After months of awkward shuffling around each other in class and frigid silences, their relationship began to rekindle. Alfred, who had the tendency of meddling and then pissing people off, got into a fight with an exchange student from Afghanistan.

Arthur had backed him up.

And, in that moment, when the two glanced at each other, all their petty dislikes and squabbles were forgotten.

Then it happened.

A dark frown formed on Alfred's face.

"Geez, Matt. It's freezing in here!" Gilbert muttered, dropping the box and rubbing at his bare arms. "You should talk to the manager or whatever."

"It doesn't feel cold to me." Matthew said, shrugging.

"That's because you lived in Canada."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means you ate enough of that weird gravy shit to build up a layer of fat to keep you warm. Just like Eskimos did in the Ice Age."

Matthew stared at the silver-haired man with something akin to horror and disbelief. "…There's just so much wrong with that sentence, Gil…" He shook his head, ashamed of his friend. "I don't…even…" He turned and walked away, leaving behind a vaguely bewildered Gilbert.

Even Alfred looked at the man strangely. "Its because there's nothing but ice in Canada, stupid."

Some people were just dumb.

"Finally!" Gilbert announced, falling back on the worn couch with a heavy thump. The movers had arrived earlier and brought in the heavier furniture and now all that was left was for Matthew to finish unpacking.

"Hey, come sit down, kid." Gilbert said, patting the spot right next to him with a vaguely seductive smirk and wink.

"Yeah, in a minute." Matthew said absently. The blond was staring at a spot before the window.

"Matt, dude. You've been looking at that spot every few minutes." Gilbert said blandly. "Its just carpet."

Matthew nodded, still unconvinced. "I just…" He turned to look at the pale man sprawled on his couch with sharp eyes. "Don't laugh, but I thought I saw something when I came in right here."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me it was a fairy. I swear, its annoying enough hearing Arthur go on and on about them."

Alfred, who was still sitting on the counter, perked up. An Arthur that claimed to see fairies? Sounded a lot like his Arthur.

Arthur had always claimed that supernatural creatures existed. Alfred, never wanting to believe that the monsters in movies could be real, laughed the claims off. But, now he was a ghost.

Maybe Arthur wasn't that crazy.

But it was interesting that this blond kid saw him right before his disappeared (yes, it was totally on purpose. Seriously.).

Most people couldn't see ghosts and ghosts were usually fine with that. But, sometimes if a ghost really tried, they could be visible to the living. Just like they could control their being enough to keep from slipping through floors, ghosts could solidify enough to be faintly visible to most people.

However, some people could see them without the effort.

But, it seemed now, that Matthew wasn't one of those. Otherwise he would've told him to get off the counter by now.

Or, you know, freak out.

Alfred sighed. It would be nice if Matthew could see him, maybe he'd have someone to talk to who would also let him choose the TV channel.

But there were some benefits to not being seen. Alfred smirked.

"But I swear I saw something." Matthew said firmly. "It was like...the air was distorted or something..."

"Trick of the light?" Matthew frowned and Gilbert sighed knowing full well how stubborn the blond could be. "Okay, then I guess, because I am an awesome friend, I will spend the night with you. But I call bed."

"Oh, no, that's not necessary." Matthew said with a smile, thinking he was just overreacting. "Whatever it was, I'm not scared, Gil."

Gilbert looked almost disappointed. "Fine, fine." He actually really wanted to spend the night…with Matthew…preferably cuddling…

Real men totally cuddle.

"Dude. I think he likes you." Alfred laughed. However, when violet eyes flew over to where he was sitting, Alfred started choking on his laughter.

"Wha—" Matthew started to say, moving forward with wide eyes.

And, Alfred panicked. Feeling himself let go, he let go completely.

"Fuck."

And slipped through the counter.

"Matt. Matt. Matthew!" Gilbert said, moving off the couch and toward the Canadian, now concerned for the slender blond who was staring in surprise at the kitchen. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Suddenly, Matthew began to chuckle nervously.

"Done." Matthew muttered brushing sweaty bangs out of his face. With a proud smile, the young man looked around his bedroom, having unpacked the last of the boxes.

It was nearing 11 o'clock and he almost unpacked. Though, it wasn't as if Matthew had a lot of stuff to unpack. He regularly went through his clothes, donating and throwing away old shirts. He didn't really keep mementos from the past (aside from a few objects and the stuffed polar bear he had since he was an infant) nor was he a packrat.

No, that was Arthur (the man kept lace doilies and still had the first pair of knitted socks he ever made).

As a result, Matthew's apartment was fairly sparse, devoid of decorations save for a few photos and trophies and some knickknacks.

In fact, if it were up to him he'd be living like any other student, with makeshift furniture and pieces from IKEA. But Francis had insisted (and sometimes it was better to just listen to the older man) and, sneakily, ordered enough furniture to fill Matthew's apartment. He had been about to buy artwork, too, before Matthew wrestled the laptop from him (Francis had all his credit card numbers memorized, so stealing his wallet was useless).

The Frenchman loved extravagance.

He also loved the fact that he did something Arthur wouldn't.

Arthur and Francis didn't really get along.

"Oh well." Matthew sighed, shrugging and glancing over at the worn white bear sitting on his dresser. "But we finally did it, eh Kumakichi? On our own, for the first time."

"Please tell me you don't sleep with that thing." Alfred asked, coming up behind Matthew.

Matthew, though he didn't answer, stiffened, feeling the hairs on the nape of his neck rise. Slowly he looked over his shoulder with curious purple eyes, suddenly feeling like he wasn't by himself.

Maybe whatever he saw earlier wasn't a trick of the light (as Gilbert had tried to reassure him before leaving).

"So you really can't see me like this." Alfred mused, moving around to Matthew's side, studying the human. "I wonder…"

Matthew, feeling slightly unnerved by the idea that he wasn't entirely alone in the room, slowly turned back and glanced around the room, looking for anything else out of the ordinary.

Kumajirou wasn't on the dresser anymore.

Now he was on his bed.

Matthew gasped, eyes wide. "Kumataro!"

"I thought his name was Kumakichi?" Alfred asked. "Whatevs, now he's already on your bed to cuddle with." The ghost said brightly with a wide grin. "You can thank me later."

"What the hell…" Matthew went over and grabbed the bear, clutching it tightly and finding some comfort in its soft fur.

It was kinda cute, Alfred decided. Though, the dregs of terror on the other's face weren't so cute.

"Get a hold of yourself Matt." The Canadian said softly. "You probably moved Kumaroo without realizing it. There is nothing weird going on in your apartment."

"So he's not Kumakichi either?" Alfred asked, scratching his head confusedly. "I'm starting to think you don't really know."

"Its perfectly normal. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Yeah, so I'm going to rummage through your cupboards and, just a warning, I might put salt in the sugar jar so I'd be careful in the morning. There's really not much else I can do and I'm tired of floating through the building." Alfred said, turning around and preparing to phase through the wall. "I kinda like you, dude, so I won't chase you out or anything. But don't make too much noise in the morning because I like pretending to sleep in. Oh and if you ever want to walk around naked, that's totally okay with me." Just before shoving through the wall, Alfred looked over his shoulder and smiled at Matthew. "I think we're gonna get along just fine."

Matthew, on the other hand, just stared at him in horror, the white bear slipping from his slack fingers. "H-how d-did…w-where…w-who are you?" He asked, voice trembling and eyes comically wide.

Alfred looked confused for a moment looking around him and wondering whom the hell Matthew was talking to. Then he looked down and realized. Laughing sheepishly, he said with an embarrassed smile. "Oops, sorry I'm not used to this whole ghost thing yet. Its actually a lot harder than it seems to control your ectoplasm." He moved towards Matthew, hand extended. "I'm Alfred."

Matthew seemed to waver on his feet, before his eyes fluttered shut and he dropped to the ground with a thud.

Alfred stared at the passed out teenager. "Well, damn."

I did want Alfred to mess with Matthew more as a ghost but I didn't feel like dragging it out especially when Matthew was already a little suspicious. To those wondering how the pairing will work out, I've already kinda got that figured out. But, warning to all, I try not to google supernatural things because I am a huge scaredy cat (I am Alfred during horror movies except with more tears and screaming and running out of the room thus disrupting the movie because I have to be coaxed out of the bathroom with cookies). But I will do my best! -determined glint- This chapter did take some time because I was kinda iffy about it but I decided to just type it out. I hope it met people's expectations (I was like, WHOA at the responses from the 1st chapter). So let me know what you all think!