Halloween was Emil's parents' favorite holiday. His mom had made all of their costumes, including Emil's and Matthew's, and every year they went all out in decorating their house. This year was no different, and they were having, in Emil's opinion, too much fun manning the door and scaring trick-or-treaters. Emil's mom sat outside the door, directing kids with a smile to "just grab some candy out of that bowl there." Emil's dad played the stuffed scarecrow who held the bowl and jumped when the kids went to grab some treats.

Emil and Matthew had only spent about an hour trick-or-treating, since they still had a lot of candy from the town's Halloween fest. They took over the Steilssons' living room, dumping all of their candy into a pile between them on the couch and watching horror movies. Lukas had tagged along with Mathias and his friends, so they were left in peace, at least for a little while. They were near the end of A Nightmare on Elm Street when the lights began to flicker on and off. Matthew jumped and stared with wide eyes at Emil.

"Are you doing that?" he asked nervously.

"No, I live in a haunted house, remember?" Emil replied, turning around to look at his ghostly boyfriend who stood at the light switch. "You're back early."

"That idiot's friends are even douchier than he is," Lukas said coolly. "Should I go help your parents scare the neighbors?"

"Go for it." Lukas smiled deviously and disappeared through the front door.

"Is he gone?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah." Emil sighed to himself. His best friend rarely spent time at his new house, since he was uncomfortable about there being a ghost he couldn't see lurking around. Well, whatever, they would just spend more time at the Joneses'.

They finished the movie (and half of the candy), and then Matthew had to leave. No sleepovers at the haunted house…

"Hey, Mattie!" Emil's mom greeted happily when they stepped outside. "Do you need a ride home?"

"No, thanks, my brother and his friends are on their way. I'm just gonna walk home with them."

"Want some candy, boys?" asked Emil's dad. "I promise not to scare you."

"No, no more candy," Emil groaned, holding his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lukas kneeling behind one of the fake skeletons on the lawn.

"So where's Mathias tonight?"

"He's out with his other friends. Why?"

"No reason. You two have just been spending a lot more time together lately."

"Well, they are dating," Matthew said, looking confused.

"Mattie!" Emil exclaimed in horror.

"I knew it!" Emil's dad smiled widely.

"You guys didn't know yet?" Matthew asked. "Crap! I'm sorry, Emil!"

"Don't worry, Mattie, we had already guessed," Emil's mom said, smiling. "In fact, we had a bet with the Køhlers on how long it would take them to tell us."

"And you just won us 40 bucks! Here, take some candy!"

"You guys already knew?" Emil asked incredulously. He glared at his friend, who was still mouthing silent apologies.

"Oh, Emil, sweetie, don't be mad. We're happy for you!"

"Yeah, you sure got a catch."

"Stop it," Emil groaned, burying his red face in his hands. It didn't help that Lukas had head the whole thing and was suppressing a laugh at Emil's expense.

While Emil's dad babbled on about how great it was that his son was dating his best friend's son, Matthew's brother, Alfred, and his friends showed up. Lukas picked up the skeleton's arm and made it wave at them. One of them, Francis, jumped, grabbing onto the closest person, Arthur to be exact. He watched in horror as the skeleton stood up and started dancing, but when the others turned to look, it had returned to its spot on the grass.

Matthew put his Viking helmet on and went to join them, waving sheepishly to Emil. Suddenly, the music his parents had been playing cut out. Lukas grinned at his boyfriend as he fiddled with the iPod. Even though he had been dead for five years, he apparently still knew how to work YouTube, because some song about "spooky, scary skeletons" began to play.

"Did you do that, Emil?" asked his mom, to which he simply shook his head.

"Must be a ghost," his dad said with a glint in his eye.

"Wouldn't you love that, dear."

Matthew and company left, so Emil stayed outside with his parents. However, they had either run out of trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood, or the previous kids had warned everyone else, because no one else showed up.

"You want there to be a ghost around, Dad?" Emil asked.

"Of course! Didn't I tell you? It's always been my dream to live in a haunted house."

"Instead, we ended up with my dream house," his mom laughed.

"Boy, do I have news for you guys," said Lukas from the stereo. He casually flipped it back to the Steilssons' Halloween mix. "Although it probably wasn't part of your dream to have your son dating a ghost."

"But we're getting away from the important things," Emil's dad said with a straight face before giving a smug smile. "How long have you and Mathias been going out?"

"I'm not having this conversation," Emil groaned.

"Why didn't you just tell us, sweetheart?"

"It's…" Don't say it's complicated, that'll just make them curious. "It's not a big deal."

"Honey, he's your first boyfriend, of course it's a big deal!"

"No."

"I guess this means we'll all have to have a little sit-down." Emil's dad stroked his chin pensively. "We'll have to set some ground rules for you two."

"Dad…"

"We don't want Mathias accidentally getting you pregnant."

"Dad!"

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, kiddo. Just make sure you use protection!"

"That's it, I'm going to bed." Emil stood up, doing his best to ignore Lukas's snickering behind him.

"Oh, Emil, I'm just joking, I know two boys can't make a baby!"

He turned and glared at his parents. His dad grinned at him, and his mom was doing her best not to laugh as well. "Good night," he hissed, walking into the house.

And he should have known. He should have known that Lukas wouldn't forget about the night before. But Emil was so flustered that he didn't think about his threat of revenge. So he readied himself for bed, still seething about his dad, and he climbed into bed and turned out the lights without so much as a word to his spectral roommate. And he fell asleep, at least for a little bit.

A little after midnight, he was awakened by a pressure on his stomach. He tried to roll over to go back to sleep, but the pressure wouldn't move. Then he was suddenly being tickled, and that definitely woke him up. He squirmed underneath the covers, trying not to laugh too loudly. That would be a hard thing to explain to his parents if they heard him. Lukas smirked down at him then leaned down and muffled his giggles with his own lips.

Emil refused to return the kiss until Lukas ceased his attack, at which point he kissed him with fervor. Maybe even a little too much fervor, because Lukas pressed down on him eagerly, making Emil release a soft sound. Lukas sat up, smirking at him again.

"You're an asshole," Emil whispered.

"To be fair, I did warn you."

"Mathias was the one who started it, why don't you go bug him?"

"I already got my revenge on him when I was out with him earlier."

"You were tickling him in front of his friends?" Emil sat up, and his boyfriend rolled off of him.

"I might have been. But then he told me to leave him alone."

"So when you came home early, it's really because he told you to."

"That's not true," Lukas said indignantly. "I'm not some ghost who can just be ordered about. I came home, because I wanted to."

"Uh huh, sure."

Lukas flicked him on the arm, sending a chill through him. "Jerk," Emil muttered, shivering. But then Lukas kissed him again, and he didn't feel nearly so cold.

"So the cat's out of the bag about you and Mathias," Lukas asked.

"Does that bother you?" Emil asked somewhat breathlessly.

"Why should it?"

"My parents know about Mathias and not about you."

"No, that doesn't bother me. This way, you don't have to explain having two boyfriends." He ran a cold hand through Emil's hair absentmindedly. "And they don't have to know that I live in your room."

"You don't live anywhere."

"That's true. I guess that makes me homeless, since I don't have anywhere to live."

"Can I ask you something?" Emil asked, turning onto his side to look at Lukas.

"I don't see why not."

"You wore glasses when you were alive, didn't you?"

"That's right."

"Did you not have them when you became a ghost? I mean, I think most people's ghosts are how they saw themselves, so usually if they wore glasses…"

"I did have them, but I don't need them anymore, so I don't wear them."

"Oh, okay."

"What, do you have a thing for glasses?"

"No, I don't." Emil blushed, and Lukas smiled at him smugly.

"No need to be shy about it." He just smiled wider when Emil glared at him. "I still have them stashed around here somewhere. If you can find them, I'll wear them for you."

"I don't have a thing for glasses!"

"Whatever you say."

Emil tried to go back to sleep, but he was now wide awake. Sighing, he got out of bed and turned on the lights.

"What are you doing?" Lukas asked.

"I'm up now, thanks to you, so I might as well look for them."

"I knew it."

"Shut up."

Emil walked around the room, trying to think of where the ghost would have hidden his glasses. He ran his hand along the top of his bookshelf, feeling for them. "They're not there," Lukas said, watching him from the bed. Then Emil kneeled down to look under the bed. "Not there either."

"Are they at least in this room?"

"Yep, luckily for you, I didn't stick them in your parents' room or something." Emil moved to the closet and opened the door. "You're getting warmer now." He groaned, looking at the mess of shoes and clothing inside.

He started by looking on the shelves along the back wall of the closet. No glasses, and Lukas had stopped giving him hints. So then he cleaned out everything on the floor of the closet, but he still didn't find them. "Are they not in here?" he asked finally.

"They are, you're just not looking hard enough."

Emil groaned again and looked through the entire closet one more time. There, in the back corner, the carpet was turned up slightly. He pulled it back and found a hole in the floor with a shoebox inside. "Bingo," said Lukas quietly, standing in the doorway to the closet. He sat down on the floor next to Emil and watched as the boy pulled the box out and opened it.

Inside, he found an assortment of CDs, a handful of photographs, and a pair of spectral spectacles. He took the glasses out, careful not to look at any of the pictures, and handed them to his boyfriend.

"You can look at them," Lukas said, putting the glasses on. "It's a sort of time capsule that I made before…"

"Maybe another time," Emil said, placing the box back into the floor and replacing the carpet. "You look weird with those on."

"You're the one who wanted to see them."

"I didn't say they look bad, just weird. Like you're a different person."

"Maybe I am." Lukas looked distant for a moment before giving Emil a smile. "So you like them."

"Don't get any weird ideas."

"I'm not the one with the glasses fetish."

"I do not have a glasses fetish!"

Emil awoke the next morning to find a bespectacled specter staring at him. "Please tell me you don't watch me while I'm sleeping," he said.

"I have better things to do than watch you all night," Lukas answered coolly.

"Oh yeah, like reorganizing my books."

"Exactly. Speaking of things to do, what are you doing up this early on a Saturday?"

"Mathias has a game today, so I'm going to it."

"Football?"

"Yep."

"Gross."

"You don't have to come."

"No, but I will, just for you." Lukas leaned in and gave him a smooch on the cheek.

"Gee, thanks," Emil said drily, rubbing his cheek. He got up and grabbed some clothes out of his closet.

"You really need to reassess your wardrobe. I will not be seen in public with you dressed like a slob."

"You won't be seen at all!"

"Still, it's the principle of the thing."

"If you're just going to criticize me, maybe you should stay home. Matthew's going to be there, and he won't be happy if you're around anyway."

"I have a theory about my glasses."

Emil looked at him sharply. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I promise it's relevant."

"Okay, then what's your theory?"

"Well, it's more of an idea than a theory. I don't need my glasses anymore, so they're rather superfluous. But what if they could give people the ability to see ghosts?"

"You mean, like, how I see ghosts? I don't know how that would work."

"It's just a thought that I had sometime in the past five years. I mean, I can interact with people who can't see me, at least to some extent, so why shouldn't my glasses be any different?"

"I guess that makes sense, but even if they did make people see ghosts, people still wouldn't be able to hear them."

"True, unless they had a ghost's hearing aid or something."

"Now you're being ridiculous, and I still don't see what that has to do with –"

"We could try them on Matthew."

"What?"

"If it worked, he'd be more comfortable around me, right?"

"Maybe, but that's only if they work."

"No harm in trying."

"I guess not."

Emil easily found Matthew sitting in the student section of the stands, since the game wouldn't start for another hour, and few people had arrived yet. His best friend waved to him excitedly, smiling widely.

"You look happy," Emil said when he sat down next to the other boy.

"I have a date tonight," Matthew explained happily.

"Really? With whom?"

"Lilli Zwingli!"

"Oh, wow, I'm happy for you, Mattie!" Lilli was a year below them, but she was very pretty and really sweet. Plus now that her brother had moved away for college, it was no longer dangerous to talk to her.

"So, um, is Lukas here with you?" Matthew asked after he had finished rambled about Lilli.

"Yes," Emil answered carefully. "Actually, there's something I want to try."

"What is it?" Matthew asked, his eyebrows immediately raising.

"Nothing weird!" replied the other boy quickly, putting his hands up. "I found his glasses, and I want to see if anything happens if you put them on."

"Oh, I guess that's okay then."

Matthew took off his glasses and put them in his pocket. Emil took Lukas's glasses from him and, after making sure no one was watching them, placed them on his friend's face for him. Matthew blinked a few times, looking in surprise just over Emil's shoulder.

"Can you see him?" Emil asked him quietly.

"Well, I can see him, but I can't really see him," he replied, squinting. "Can I put my glasses back on?"

"He should be able to layer them right over my own," Lukas mused.

"Try putting them on over the other ones," Emil said.

Matthew did as he was asked and blinked even more over Emil's shoulder. "Woah, I can see him," he whispered.

Lukas gave him a small wave. "It's too bad you can't hear me. You're missing out on all the dead jokes."

They quieted as more people began filtering into the stands. A few more of their friends came and sat with them, and they all talked excitedly with each other. Emil had been so distracted with his new house, roommate, and boyfriends that he hadn't talked to some of his friends in a while.

"I'm not staying long," Natalya grumbled to Mei in the row in front of them. "I feel sick. Must be all the douchebags around here."

"Or the ghosts," said Lukas under his breath.

"Emil, isn't that the guy from the other night?" Matthew asked suddenly, nodding over his shoulder.

Emil turned around and looked right at Berwald as he was walking by with Timo and an older couple. He met gazes with the man and gave a weak wave. Berwald returned the greeting, attracting his companions' attention.

"Oh hi, Emil!" Timo said happily. "Nice to see you again."

"Yeah," Emil responded, shifting around to look at them. "I didn't know you guys were still in town."

"Yep, we're going back tomorrow."

"Hi, I'm Emil Steilsson," he said to the older couple.

"Nice to meet you, Emil," said the woman, smiling kindly. "We're Berwald's parents."

"Is your dad Erik Steilsson?" asked the man. Emil nodded. "I used to work with him at the rec center. Is he still close to Christian Køhler?"

"Yeah, they're still best friends."

"So how do you know Berwald and Timo?"

"Well, it's sort of a long story…"

"He lives in the Thomassens' old place," Berwald explained quietly, looking at the ghost next to Emil.

"Oh," breathed his mom, suddenly solemn. "Well…it's nice to know that they finally sold the house."

"It's fine," Berwald mumbled. "Don't need to make a big deal."

"Well, we should probably go find some seats," Berwald's dad said quickly.

"See you around, Emil," Timo said, sending a silent smile to Lukas.

Emil was very aware that Lukas hadn't cracked a single joke during that entire exchange. He remained silent, watching them walk away. "Why don't you go with them?" he suggested under his breath. His ghostly boyfriend gave him a surprised look. "You don't have to, but don't you want to spend some time with him?"

"He and I were over a long time ago," Lukas said.

"I'm not telling you to go make out with him, and if you did, I'd have to use Mrs. Køhler's ghost repellants on you."

Lukas snorted at that. "Alright, I get it. I'll go hang out with people my own age." He gave Emil a big smooch on the cheek, making him blush slightly. "Oh, but I would like my glasses back."

"Mattie," Emil grumbled, "take off your glasses."

"Huh? Uh, okay." The other boy took off his glasses, leaving the spectral glasses that he couldn't see, and Lukas gently took them back. Matthew shivered when he felt the ghost's fingers. "I thought we already agreed on no touching."

"Sorry," Emil apologized on behalf of his boyfriend, who had already left.

"Who was that anyway?"

"Lukas's ex-boyfriend."

"Really?" Matthew stared at him wide-eyed. "Well then, wow."

"Yeah." Emil shifted awkwardly, and luckily the game was about to start.

He didn't know a whole lot about football, despite all the times Mathias had tried to explain it to him, but he could tell that his boyfriend was playing well. During half-time, he watched the older boy joke around with his teammates, and they all slapped him on the back with big smiles.

"Do you think Mathias is out of my league?" he asked Matthew.

"If he was, you wouldn't be dating," he answered.

"Wait, you're dating Mathias Køhler?" Mei asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Since when?!"

"I guess it's been about a month now." Emil blushed as all of his friends turned to look at him, as well as some other people sitting around them. Great, now everyone would know. Emil wasn't popular; he had a group of friends, but no one outside of that group knew him. He only knew Mathias, because their dads were best friends. He slouched over in his seat until everyone went back to their own business.

The second half of the game didn't go so well. The team did its best, but the other team still won. The mood in the bleachers and on the field was really down compared to the first half, and the student section gave a collective sigh when the timer ran out. Emil followed his friends out of the stadium and found Berwald, Timo, and Lukas in the parking lot. With his glasses on, Lukas looked a lot older, like he had grown up with the other two. He was actually laughing with them, something that surprised Emil, so he tried to slip by them unnoticed.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lukas said, suddenly in front of him. Emil came to a stop, looking around for anyone who could be listening before he answered.

"I was going to go wait for Mathias."

"Forget about him, come hang out with us."

"He's probably pretty upset about the game. Besides, my parents—"

"There you are, Emil!" said Emil's dad, walking up to him and throwing an arm around him. He was followed closely by Mathias's dad and their moms.

"So!" said Mathias's dad, throwing an arm around Emil from the other side. "I heard you're going to be my son-in-law!"

"What? No!" Emil exclaimed, trying in vain to shake both men off. They laughed heartily, ruffling his hair in sync. This was a reoccurring problem when the two of them got together: Emil could expect to be teased at least twice as much as usual.

Lukas slipped back towards Berwald and Timo to avoid coming in contact with Mathias's mom. At least he's considerate towards some people. He gave Emil a wave before walking off towards their car with them, leaving the boy to deal with both sets of embarrassing parents.

"I can't believe they managed to hide it from us for this long!" Mathias's mom remarked to Emil's mom.

"I can't believe we're going to be family!" said Emil's dad to Mathias's dad.

"Will you two quit it?"

Several minutes later, Mathias walked out to the parking lot, looking dejected. His dad released Emil to run up and tackle his son into a hug. "Hey there, son! Nice playing!"

"Yeah, that's why we won," Mathias said glumly.

"Aw, Mat, don't look so down," said his mom, holding back a smile. "Your boyfriend is here to cheer you up!"

"My what?" Mathias looked at Emil, who shrugged.

"The cat's out of the bag," explained the younger, finally shaking his dad off.

"And we're going to go celebrate," added Mathias's mom. "Victory or not."

"Just us?" Mathias asked Emil.

"Um, yeah, my friends are catching up with each other," he replied, nodding towards Lukas, Berwald, and Timo.

"Ah, gotcha." Mathias nodded at them, and Lukas waved back lazily. "Well, if everyone already knows…" He wrapped his arm around Emil's shoulders, making his boyfriend blush, and they followed their parents to their cars to go get something to eat.