Again, sorry about the shortness of it, but i think, in order to keep the fic alive longer, i'm going to diminish the length every chapter, though not by too much ;) I kind of based the first chunk off my own life, because I'm sick now (bleh...), so if anything sounds strange, it's because i'm dillusional! Thanks for reading, guys! Happy almost MLK jr. Day!

I lay in bed panting, gasping, shivering with the freezing flames of fever that were engulfing me. It had come on so suddenly… yesterday I had been perfectly healthy, and then… this. My head was pounding and weighed a ton when I tried to lift it from the pillow, so I decided it would be best to stay where I was. I could feel my throat tightening, swelling closer and closer to shut every minute, which scared me more than anything. If I started suffocating, who was here to save me? Alfred had gone to school, Mom, of course, to work, so I would be left to die alone.

I decided, when I started to wonder if that would be such a bad thing, to take a nap.

My dream was filled with nothingness. If that counted as a dream at all.

When I woke up, I was soaked thoroughly with my own sweat, sticking my hair to my face, my clothes to my body. I felt disgusting, so I yanked myself up with a terrible, thick cough, and went to shower, only to find I was too light-headed to take stand for that long. Well, baths were always nice too. While waiting for the tub to fill up, I dozed off, imagining that Gilbert was just outside the door, waiting for me to come back out to him. No, wait, this was Gilbert we were talking about. He'd be in the bathroom with me, saying "the awesome me can handle it!" or something along those lines. Despite how terrible I felt, just thinking about that made me laugh and miss him painfully.

After my bath, I tried to eat something, but my protesting throat wouldn't let me force it down, so I gave up and drank some water instead. Sitting at the table, I started humming and drumming my fingers, staring blankly into the abyss of my house. Just as I was about to fall asleep again, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned swiftly, but saw nothing, playing it off as a trick from my fever. Until it moved again. And again, while I was watching. My mom's creepy pile of stuffed animals that she kept in the corner of the kitchen was MOVING.

"Gilbert!" I gasped, hoping.

Instead I was met with a small bark and more wriggling from the fake animals. Just as I was about to go take some medicine to knock me out for my hallucinations, a small head popped out of them, eyes blinking and very alive. A puppy? Overly confused, I went over and pulled the tiny dog out of the pile, getting a warm tongue on my face in return. I laughed, pushing its face away, trying to determine the breed. It was white and very fluffy, with pointed ears, so… Alaskan Malamute or something along the lines of that? As I was investigating, I noticed a pink silk ribbon around its neck and took a look at it.

Her name's Apune. Happy early Birthday, awesome Mattie. Oh, and you can STILL count on it, by the way. The awesome me will return!

I almost cried, choking on the relief and, of course, the dog's sneaky tongue. Pushing her head away again, I looked into her black eyes and felt myself relax for the first time in forever. He was coming back. He had given me Apune to prove that to me. But, said my pessimistic side, when? If he had the strength to give me a puppy, when would he be coming back? Why hadn't he come back? The puppy, who had remained silent in my arms, barked lightly.

"Do you know when Gilbert is coming back?" I asked the dog in my croaking voice.

She barked again, struggled out of my arms, and made a beeline for the calendar on the wall, grabbing it in her jaws and shredding it. I groaned, going over and yanking it out of the naughty dog's mouth.

"No, Apune. Bad girl… bad…" I started, but when I took a good look at the calendar, she had only shredded one day on it, instead of just carelessly eating away at it. I brightened, muttering I was sorry to her and giving her a good pat on the head.

It was exactly one week away from today.

My brother freaked when he saw the puppy after coming home from school, and freaked twice as much when he saw the note in Gilbert's scratchy handwriting. I didn't see him for the rest of the day as he hid from the ghosts that could easily just go through the wall and into his room. My mom, however, was furious with me, disbelieving that I had been given the dog, claiming that I had played sick just so I could defy her and get the "filthy, diseased creature". But no matter how much she screamed, I was NOT giving Apune up. She was my only lifeline to Gilbert, the only proof he was going to be coming back from what was seemingly… literally… the dead.

Despite all her ranting about disobeying her, my mom let me keep the dog, saying it could be good for me, which I immediately agreed to. Whatever floated her boat kept mine from sinking too.

As another week went by, painfully slow, I started to panic. What if he hadn't come to see me because most of his body had disappeared forever? Would I be able to take that if it was true? Even though it was the day I should be happiest, I couldn't prevent myself from freaking out massively as I waited in my room after school for him to show up. I kept playing with my front hair curl nervously, passing the time… until it was about ten. My heart started to sink. Maybe the stupid dog had just randomly chosen a day that seemed yummy and snacked on it. Speaking of which… where had Apune run off to?

Seeing no point in sitting around here and waiting, I got up and started searching for her, clicking my tongue and whistling until it hurt.

"Apune!" I cried, starting to get worried. "Apune, where are you, girl?"

A small bark emanated from the bathroom and I opened the door, only to find it both dogless and empty. Well… was something moving behind the shower curtain…? I yanked it back, hoping to find my dog and getting so much more than even that. My hand fell limply to my side as I stared at the man before me, someone who, at one point, I had thought gone from me forever.

Gilbert… I started crying immediately, feeling pathetic but barely caring, because he was here now, and even if it WAS just to say goodbye, he had kept his promise with me. I couldn't move, immobilized by the shock, so Gilbert did instead, pulling me into his arms and just holding me there while I sobbed into his shirt. I could feel his strong hands, one against the back of my head, the other rubbing my back, giving off a surprising amount of heat for a ghost.

"The awesome me told you I'd come back! I told you to count on it!"

Eyes still leaking, I looked up at him, blushing at the look on his face. "Where have you been?" I murmured, clutching him closer.

He was silent for a long time, his expression thoughtful but guarded. He wasn't going to tell me, but I could infer using what he said. "I was… recovering. But the awesome me never left you alone for a second, Mattie! Yeah, I had to change my appearance some, but I was always there! Especially this past week! It's a dog's life," he chuckled.

Wait… he had been… APUNE? "B-B-But Apune was a girl!" I protested.

He raised a silver eyebrow and asked, "Did you ever check that? Just because the awesome me said it, didn't make it true."

I burned bright red and started stuttering, "N-n…. b-bu…. It…. I don't…"

With a triumphant laugh, he pulled me up and kissed me, his lips again warm against mine. I didn't want it to end… I didn't want him to leave me alone again. But the truth smacked me in the face; he was dead and I wasn't. We could never be together, no matter what. Unless…. But I tried to push that thought from my mind before Gilbert could read it.

Apparently I got rid of it fast enough, because he gave me an eager grin and we went back into my room where he promptly pushed me down again and said, his voice low, "Let's continue where we left off… only without interruption this time! Damn dissipating body chunks…."

Having that brought up made me curious and I scanned his body up and down and all over. Where was the gaping hole in his arm? In his side? How was he completely whole again? I didn't get time to ask before his mouth was on mine again, both of us putting all our terrible feelings of loneliness and longing into our kisses, which were slowly growing more and more intimate. With every one, my heart started pounding faster and I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I began to think about what sorts of things could happen if I let them. Or if Gilbert wanted to, which I was sure he did by the way his half-closed eyes burned seductively as he looked at me.

But I couldn't… and I knew that. So did he. Not to mention, he was, again, dead. It would be wrong and confusing on so many levels. Plus… despite all that, the real reason, which was as true as it was terrible, was that I was scared. So even though I wanted him, and him me, we would only kiss. That would be all. Sure, he'd probably try something anyway, but I had to tell him no. A-and I would. I would definitely tell him no. I HAD to… But as much as I attempted to convinced myself, I started doubting it the second his hand found its way up my shirt. I let out a surprised squeak, but otherwise did nothing to contain him.

Our whole night went like that, and we both somehow ended us shirtless, but he never went any farther. Eventually, I fell asleep with his arms around me, comforted by his sweet scent and even breathing beside me.

That night I dreamed of Heaven, where both Gilbert and I were angels… happy together where we belonged. Somewhere, in the recesses of my mind, I wondered if he had anything to do with the things going on in my head.