"So let me get this straight," Matthew said in the cafeteria during lunch. "You had two hot guys ask you to pick between them, and you flat out rejected them both?"

"Yeah, that's about right," Emil answered.

"Okay, well, ghost complications aside, you've been crushing on Mathias for a long time now."

"It hasn't been that long, and don't worry, they won't let me get away with that answer for long."

"Hey, Emil!" Mathias said happily, walking over to their table and sitting beside him. "Hey, Mattie!"

"Hi, Mat." Matthew smiled, suddenly standing up. "I've gotta get going, I'll see you later, Emil."

"What? But…" Matthew gave him a wink as he collected his things, and Emil rolled his eyes. "Okay, see ya."

Mathias shifted closer to Emil and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "So, is your new friend not with you today?"

"No, he said he had no interest in going to school." Which was sort of true. Lukas had said something cryptic about having escaped from high school and never wanting to return to "that hellhole" again. "Did you two ever work things out?"

"Maaaybe," Mathias sang. "Sooo, do you want to come over to my house today?"

"Um…" Emil looked down at the table, blushing. Is he asking in, like, a date way?

"I mean, like, to do homework. Since you didn't get to yesterday, and it's probably pretty distracting at your house."

"I'll say." Emil mulled it over. "So you mean, do I want to come over without Lukas?"

"Yeah, he'll probably just bug you if you bring him along."

"Okay, sure."

"Awesome, I'll see you after school." Mathias gave him a brilliant grin and ruffled his hair, making the younger boy blush again.

Once classes were over, Emil sent a text to his parents telling them he'd be at the Køhlers' doing homework. It was going to be nice to have a few hours alone with Mathias and away from Lukas, but really, Emil was looking forward to riding in Mathias's car instead of taking the bus. He used to ride his bike to school, but now they lived just a little too far for that, and he hated the bus already. Mathias had an old junker car, but it was air conditioned and had cushioned seats.

It was also nice that Mathias was sort of popular, so riding with him made Emil feel pretty cool, too. God, that's a stupid thought. He saw Matthew walking home and waved to him. His best friend waved back, winking at him again. He rolled his eyes again and turned up Mathias's radio, singing along to the song playing. Mathias sang along as well, smiling widely.

They pulled up to his house, and Mathias slung an arm over Emil's shoulders as they walked inside. "What are you doing, weirdo?" Emil asked, ducking out from underneath.

"Oh, hi, Emil!" greeted Mathias's mom. "I didn't know you were coming over today."

"We're gonna work on homework again," Mathias answered a little too quickly, and Emil scrutinized him.

"That's fine, your dad and I are going out tonight," said his mom, apparently having not noticed anything. "How is your new house, Emil?"

"It's, um, nice. It's my mom's dream house," Emil replied hesitantly.

"We'll have to invite ourselves over one of these nights."

"Oh, Mom, I don't think you would like it," Mathias said even faster. "There's some, you know, bad juju."

"Hmm? Oh…oh, my. Are you alright in there, Emil?"

"What? Yeah, I'm not bothered by…bad juju."

"Yes, you are," Mathias said under his breath, and Emil glared at him. Mathias's mom walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I have an amulet that helps block it, do you want it?"

For a terrible, awful moment, Emil considered it. He imagined, with some horrible satisfaction, Lukas's face when the amulet blocked him from hugging the younger. However, he shook his head. "Thanks, Mrs. Køhler, but I'm not that bothered by it."

"You know, you should've taken the amulet," Mathias said when they were in his room.

"I don't know, I don't have any way to block you."

"Hey." He bumped the younger with his shoulder, laughing. "But really, I don't live in your room,

and I can't walk through doors. Locked doors."

"Well, he hasn't yet."

"Yet."

"Okay, maybe it would be nice to have for my bathroom, but I would feel kind of mean for doing it. I mean, I doubt he would actually walk in on me on the toilet or something."

"Just think about it, okay?" Mathias was looking at him seriously, which made him blush again. This can't be good for my health.

"Okay, I'll think about it," he huffed. "Can we work on homework now?"

"Of course!"

They worked in silence for a while, sitting on either side of Mathias's desk, but eventually Emil got stuck on a math problem. The older boy walked around to stand behind him and look the problem over, leaning in too close.

"Which problem?" he asked casually, his breath hitting Emil's ear.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Emil asked shakily. This is so not good for my health. He could feel the heat radiating from his friend.

"I'm helping you with your homework."

"Um, no, you're not." He turned his head to look at Mathias and found his face right next to his own.

"I never got the chance to tell you yesterday," said Mathias quietly, "but I think you're cute, too." He leaned in closer, and…

The door slammed open, and a chill permeated the room. Mathias jumped away from the desk, and Emil stared wide-eyed at Lukas standing casually in the doorway, his arms crossed.

"Well, don't you two look cozy?" he said with a slight smile. Mathias stormed over to him, pulled him into the room, and closed the door.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he whispered angrily. "You're going to give my mom a freaking heart attack!"

"Relax, your parents are out, I checked."

"What are you doing here, Lukas?" Emil asked angrily. He was embarrassed, plus that stupid ghost had scared the hell out of him. Maybe that amulet wasn't such a bad idea.

"I heard your parents talking about how you were here 'studying,' so I came to join the party." He actually made the quotation marks, I can't believe him.

"We were studying, until you showed up," Mathias said, and Lukas raised an eyebrow at him.

"Clearly." He threw an arm around Mathias's shoulder, and the latter visibly shivered. "So, Mathias, buddy, pal," he began in a flat voice. "What happened to our agreement?"

"Did we come to an agreement yesterday? I don't remember that, only your suggestion."

"I see, well, two can play at that game." They grinned at each other, making it seem like they were flirting again.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" Emil asked, looking confusedly between the two. Lukas smiled at him impishly, stepping away from Mathias towards him.

"Nothing, nothing," he said offhandedly. "I heard you need help with math? I used to be pretty good with math."

"And I'm sure that was a few years ago," Mathias said, annoyed, as Lukas took his spot leaning over Emil.

"My body is the one that's rotting, not my mind." Lukas proceeded to give clear and concise instructions to Emil on how to solve the problem.

"Wow, thanks," he said, turning to smile at the ghost, but, just like Mathias, his face was way too close. "Would you knock it off? You're really cold."

"Good thing, because it looks like you have a fever," he replied smoothly, brushing his fingers across Emil's red cheeks.

"I'm plenty warm, Emil," Mathias said from his other side. "Beating heart and everything."

"Overrated."

"Are you guys really going to start this again?" Emil exclaimed, putting his head in his hands. "I thought you said you had worked things out."

"I thought we had, too," Lukas said.

"Okay, well, I'm not changing my answer."

"Are you sure about that?" Mathias ask smugly.

"I still don't think you're being honest with us," Lukas added.

They both leaned in to kiss him at the same time, so he slid down in his seat, and they ended up kissing each other.

"Wow," Mathias said, blinking.

"That was unexpected," Lukas said, unruffled. "But not entirely unpleasant."

Emil groaned and slid further down in the chair and under the desk, which was almost smooth, but he hit his head crawling out from underneath it. "Ow, okay, maybe I should just go home."

"No, wait, Emil, you don't have to," Mathias said, stepping in front of the door.

"Are you, are you okay?" Lukas asked, trying not to crack up.

"Uh, yeah, I do." Emil wanted to sink into the floor, but in a cooler way than he just had. He reached across Lukas to gather his things from the desk. At least I got some of my homework done before the freak show started.

"Hold up, sweetie." Lukas put his hands over Emil's.

"Calling me that is not going to make me want to listen to you," he replied, glaring at the ghost.

"It's not my fault you're so fun to tease. Anyway, Mathias and I came to an agreement yesterday, at least I thought we came to an agreement, that we wouldn't make you choose between the two of us."

"Good, because I—"

"We're just going to share you."

"What?!" He looked between them in confusion again. Lukas smirked at him, and Mathias smiled sheepishly. "Aren't you supposed to get my consent before you decide things that like?"

"Don't you like the idea?" Mathias asked.

"I…" He took a step back, hugging his schoolbooks to his chest. "I don't know."

"What's not to know?" Mathias stepped closer to him. "We've known each other forever."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Is it because you just met me?" Lukas stepped around Mathias. "Because I probably know more about you after reading your diary than this back-stabbing promise-breaker."

"I don't even have a diary, you weirdo! It's because you two can't be in the same room for five minutes without fighting."

"Well, to be fair, I did start this fight by inviting you over." Mathias shrugged unapologetically.

"It's nice that you admit that, but I'm still going home."

"Fine by me, I happen to share a room with you."

"I should've taken that amulet," Emil muttered under his breath.

"At least let me drive you home," Mathias said as Emil packed up his bag, and the younger frowned at him.

"Of course, you're going to drive me. Did you think I was going to walk all the way home?"

Emil finished gathering his things and walked out of the room ahead of the other two. Mathias once again wrapped his arm around the younger's shoulders, and Lukas slid his arm around Emil's waist. "Quit it, you two," he mumbled to the floor.

"Nope," they said in unison, causing him to give an exasperated sigh.

He sat up front next to Mathias like he always did, but it was weird to have someone in the backseat. Of course, not many people could say they'd ridden in a car with a ghost.

"What are you doing?" Mathias asked Lukas.

"Hitching a ride," he answered.

"You're a ghost, can't you just poof places?"

"I suppose I could, but then I wouldn't be able to chaperone you two."

"I don't need a chaperone," Emil said angrily.

"Well, then let's just say I want to spend time with you."

"Alright, well, everyone buckle up," Mathias cut in.

"Do I have to?" Lukas asked. "They're so unfashionable."

Emil laughed, his bad mood lifting a little. He didn't notice the other two in the car smile at his reaction and confer with each other silently.

"Hey, Mathias," Lukas said casually as they pulled away from the house. "Knock, knock."

"Who's there?"

"Not me, I'm dead."

Emil laughed harder, holding his stomach.

"Hey, Emil, do you still think I'm hot?" Lukas asked, leaning forward to look at him.

"No, he thinks you're cold," Mathias answered. "Ice cold. I-cy dead people."

"Goddamnit," Emil gasped between bouts of laughter. "That's—not—even—funny!"

"But do you think I'm cute still?" Lukas asked again.

"Ye-yeah."

"Would you say I'm…drop dead gorgeous?"

Needless to say, Emil was in tears by the time they pulled up to his new house.

"Thanks for the ride," he told Mathias, still short of breath.

"No problem!"

Then before Emil could grab his bag or open the car door, the older boy leaned over, grabbed him by the chin, and pressed their lips together. Maybe if the younger had been expecting it, he would have reacted better. That is, maybe he would have reacted at all, because he just froze in his seat. He probably just used his last allotted blush for the month. He noticed Lukas staring, shocked, at Mathias when he pulled away, the ghost's mouth slightly agape.

"Er, sorry," Mathias laughed awkwardly, patting Emil's head. "You were just so cute laughing like that, and—"

"It's…it's alright," Emil said. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow?"

"Right, of course."

Emil grabbed his backpack and exited the car, and a strange sort of fuzziness spread from his toes up, making him smile giddily. Lukas slammed the car door shut for him with a bang, muttering to himself in annoyance. The younger boy ignored him, practically floating into the house and up to his room. He lay down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling.

He nearly had a heart attack when Lukas leaned over him suddenly.

"Emil, can I kiss you?" he asked.

"What?" the younger sat up and looked at the ghost sitting next to him.

"I figured I would do the nice thing and ask you, unlike that rude guy." He tilted his head. "Do you not want to kiss me?"

"No, I want to, it's just…"

"Come on, I'm 0 for 2 against Mathias, and I haven't kissed anyone in at least five years."

"You kissed him earlier."

"That didn't count." Lukas tossed his head with finality, and Emil lay back down.

"That…that was my first kiss," he admitted.

"Are you serious? I bet that idiot didn't even know that when he kissed you."

"I don't know, he might've. We really have been friends since forever, so he should know."

"Damn, then I'm 0 for 3."

"What, is this a competition to you?"

"If I said yes, would you help me win?"

"I, um…" Emil looked at the wall. "If you promise not to spy on me in the bathroom."

He sat up again when he heard a snort. "Did you really think I would watch you in the bathroom? Jeez, I'm not that twisted." Lukas snickered, lying down next to the glaring boy next to him. "Oh, don't give me that look," he said, brushing the younger's hair back. "I'm sorry, look, I'll make up for it by giving you a kiss."

"Fine," Emil huffed, "but it had better be a good one."

Lukas sat up again, giving the other a smug smile before leaning in to kiss him. Maybe it was because the room suddenly felt so hot, but Emil barely even noticed how icy cold the ghost was. His lips felt soft enough to be living, and the way they moved sent a jolt through the boy. Of course, having no experience in this kind of matter, Emil was awkward and…slobbery. But Lukas wrapped his arms around him before he could pull away, so he tried to concentrate on matching their mouths.

He was so distracted, in fact, that he didn't hear the knock on his door. Fortunately (was it fortunate?), Lukas heard the door opening and quickly pulled away, disappearing through the wall by the bed. Emil's dad gave an assessing look to his flushed, out of breath son and raised an eyebrow.

"What, are you making out with a ghost in here?" he asked.

"What?! No! I'm just…!"

"Oh, no need to explain, kiddo."

"No, Dad, it's not like that!"

"You're at that age now…"

"Dad!"

And Lukas, that bastard, was laughing loudly in the next room. Is this really my life now? He covered his face with his hands and groaned.

AN: I know I marked this as complete, but it's back by popular demand. It's still considered complete, but I might add more later? I don't even know, but I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading!