Sorry this one's a little shorter guys ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing, nicely of course :D

"Mom… Mom wait!" I begged, just as Alfred came out of his room. "Please don't… I'm not crazy!"

He studied the scene in shock, looking from our mom, to me, to the dreaded phone she was holding in her hands, fingers frozen over the "talk" button as she stared at me sadly. "Uh, what's going on, guys?"

Mom glanced over at him and patiently said, "Go back to your room, Alfie, sweetie. I'm taking care of something right now, okay?"

Feeling painfully desperate, I couldn't help but start to cry and long for Gilbert to be able to comfort me without it being weird and wrong. He was looking at me from his spot on the couch, red eyes blazing furiously as my mother pressed down and brought the phone up to her ear, but making no move to come over and help me in any way, and that made it just a little more upsetting. Alfred came over to me instead, pulling me into a brotherly hug and giving our mother a "what the heck do you think you're doing?" face.

"Hello?" Mom asked as someone picked up the other line. "Um, who is this?"

What a strange question when she was the one who had called THEM…

"Someone you're going to wish you chose to believe in, bitch!" I heard Gilbert yell from the couch, and I could tell that he had done something to take over the phone line. "Turn around and tell the awesome Mattie you're sorry right now! And don't forget to tell him… I love him too."

Outraged, she stared at the phone in disbelief. "What's going on? Who is this?"

"The awesome Gilbert, that's who! Now tell Mattie! Not that he can't hear me, since I'm on your couch, but still!"

She turned pale, turning towards the couch slowly. There, cocky grin in place, arms crossed across his chest, looking much like an avenging angel, was Gilbert. And, somehow, I got the feeling that I wasn't the only one who could see him anymore, especially when Alfred went limp then rubbed his eyes and opened them again, really wide.

"GILBERT?" he gasped, shocked.

So he hadn't believed me either.

Mom was frozen in shock, her mouth partially open and one finger outstretched, pointing shakily at the boy on her furniture. "Y-Y-You…" she barely got out.

"Yes! The awesomely awesome ME! In PERSON!" He did a little dance and came up to me, pulling me out of the lifeless arms of my brother and taking me into his. Into my ear whispered, "I think I've made my point! Let's go back to YOUR room!" casting it loud enough so that everyone could hear.

Unless that was unintentional…

"Y-You are NOT going to your room with him, young man!" my mom yelled, trying to be strict, but so far in shock her voice had no power to it.

Alfred hadn't moved since he'd seen Gilbert.

Gilbert just laughed at Mom's attempts to control me and order me around.

And I… I could say nothing. Nobody, not even in this situation, cared what I wanted.

Then, suddenly, I was being yanked into my room by my ghost boyfriend who had somehow become "living" again and followed by my mother, who looked like she was out for my blood AND Gilbert's. I could see in the living room, Alfred was still frozen like a perfect statue, even his eyes remote and empty, uncomprehending.

"G-Gilbert…" I tried, struggling to pull away from him, but it was no use. He pulled me into my room and pinned me down on my bed easily, like he was staging a scene that would piss my mom off particularly and kissed me, his warm, living lips giving me a slight shock. "Mmmmph…" I muttered, trying to push him off. Turning my head to the side, I asked, breathlessly, "Wh-what are you doing?"

This time, he listened and pulled back. "I figured out how to appear realistic for just a little while, because I'm awesome, and I'm taking advantage of it! Unfortunately, this IS going to cost me later, so… Let's get to it!" He was back to kissing me, not letting any of the millions of questions I had spew from my mouth.

Was he stupid? It was obvious when he said it would cost him that he'd end up with a missing leg or… or… an eye or something! And he was wasting it on KISSING me, something he could already do as a ghost! Not that this kiss wasn't better… But I was willing to have all the frozen-lipped kisses in the world from him, as long as I got to have him forever. Now it was like I could feel him slowly dissipating, piece by piece, every time he opened his scarlet eyes and looked down at me. Staring into their depths, I let my mind roam aimlessly, wondering about small details, random things like why my mother hadn't burst into the room, how long Gilbert could stay like this, if, after using so much power, Gilbert would go to Heaven and what I would do if he did. They all were buzzing around in my head, just as questions always did for me.

Suddenly, his whole body went completely rigid and he pulled himself off of me, leaping away from the bed and falling backwards onto his butt, sliding against a wall. "Damn…" he groaned, holding his side. In curious terror, he brought his hands back slowly.

Nothing. He was completely whole.

"The a-awesome me thought I'd have longer…" Gilbert mumbled, pushing back sweaty hair and grimacing. "Y-you… stay here. I'll b-be back… later…" For a moment, his breathing faltered and stopped altogether, but just as I was about to freak, he took a huge breath, gave me a characteristic smile and yelled, "Count on it!"

Then he completely disappeared before even MY eyes.

"Gilbert…" I whispered, a tone of melancholy to my voice that even I could hear. "Thank you for saving me."

Just as I expected, there was absolutely no response. He was gone.

More tired than I had ever been before, I curled up on my bed and tried to fall asleep, tried not to think too much of the terrible day I'd had, tried not to imagine what Mom was going to do to me tomorrow. Of course, it was a useless attempt and I lay there all night, watching for Gilbert to come back. Every time he left, he always came back and told me he would. He would keep good on his promise. He had too. Miserably, I put my hands on my face in desperation, trying not to cry. Why had this happened to me?

The morning came too soon, another sleepless night gone by. Hungry, I came out of my room, only to find a note on the table, one written by Mom. I was overly exhausted and didn't know if I could take being screamed at by her, so I stuck it in my pocket and saved it for later, grabbing some waffles and shoving them in the toaster. While I was waiting for them to pop, I heard my brother's bedroom door squeak open and he hesitantly walked into the kitchen, coming to stand next to me.

"Sup?"

"I'm making waffles," I explained right as they popped up. I gathered them onto my plate, grabbed my maple syrup, and sat down, watching as Alfred grabbed some cold Pop-Tarts.

Sitting down, he launched me a fifty-watt smile and said, "Oh, dude! You're never going to believe the terrible dream I had last night! It was so freaking creepy!"

My voice no more than a mumble, I said, "Maybe it was because of what happened yesterday? With Gilbert?"

Instantly his eyes went blank, and his smile faded. "Whoa, how'd you know what my dream was?" Then, just as easily as his excitement had been brought down, it flew back up. "Are, like, some Canadian psychic or something? SWEET!"

Confused, I shook my head. "No, I was talking about yesterday, when Mom tried to send me to a therapist and Gilbert stopped her. That wasn't a dream; it really happened."

"Dude, now you're starting to creep me out! That was all in the dream too! Maybe you ARE psychic!"

Losing patience with him quickly, I found myself snapping at him uncharacteristically. "Would you SHUT UP? It wasn't a dream, Alfred! IT WAS REAL! I'm not psychic, I was there! Gilbert really is my b-b… friend, and I l-lo… like him a lot! Please… believe me." All the earnest words I gave were deaf to his ears.

He just kept looking at me stupidly, disbelieving of the truth. I hated him sometimes, and now was definitely one of them. Furious, I shoved the last piece of waffle in my mouth and stormed off after washing my dish off and putting it in the dishwasher carefully. In my room, I pulled on some new clothes and barely gave a second glance at my hair, all the while whispering curses under my breath. It didn't help my mood when I remembered the note and pulled it out, scanning her vile words quickly.

I've called the therapist. You have an appointment today at 3:30. I'll pick you up.

So… everything Gilbert had done for me… was for NOTHING? He could be gone forever. Losing any miniscule patience I had, I took my fury out on a pillow.

The next few months were like the bane of my existence, like being sent into purgatory for the rest of my life, which, instantly, made me think of Gilbert, who hadn't shown up since the day he'd saved me. I didn't sleep at night… I barely ate… All I could think about was him coming back to me, just to say goodbye. He'd never been gone this long before, not since the day we met, and I was starting to lose all faith in the hope that he was still here, on Earth. My mom was furious with me, due to the fact that I was too afraid of everything to even talk to the therapist she had taken me to and that I knew he'd try to convince me I had imagined everything.

Sometimes, even I wondered if that was true.

When I felt the most anxious, I would go and visit Gilbert's grave, just to sit by it. I always felt better there, like he was closer to me, maybe even watching over me from Heaven. That's where I was today, running my hand across the cool marble, as I had the first time I'd come here. It was almost summer now, and the Weeping Willows made surprisingly good cover from the sun's burning rays, with only one strand of heated light catching the stone in front of me, causing it to glow a warm silver.

"Gilbert…" I murmured without reason. "Where are you now? Are you in Heaven, with the rest of the angel children? Please tell me you are… it would make me feel so much better to know you aren't suffering." I closed my eyes, a warm wind blowing my face, so much in contrast to the icy one that had taken my hat from me so long ago and had introduced me to love that I shivered despite the temperature. "I want you to come back and say goodbye." My voice was set, determined. "You promised me you'd come back. You told me to count on it… and I have been. I don't like to think you're gone from me… so, if you're listening, just come back and say goodbye."

I stood up just as the cicadas started to wail their lulling cries.