Emil received a call on his way home from school one day.

"Hi, Emil, it's Tino!"

"Hey, Tino, what's up?" Mathias gave him a curious look from the driver's seat, and Emil shrugged in response.

"Um, well, actually, I called to talk to you about that thing coming up."

"Thing?" Emil squinted into his lap, trying to remember if he knew of any "thing."

"You know," Tino said carefully, "the anniversary of Lukas's death."

"Oh my god," Emil gasped. "Is it insensitive that I completely forgot?"

"What is it?" Mathias asked him, and he held up a hand to tell him to wait.

"Well, I wouldn't say so. I mean, he's practically alive to you."

"Honestly, with all the dead jokes he makes...Anyway what about it? Should we be doing something special for it?"

"From my experience, most spirits like to be commemorated in some way on their death day. Usually a trip to the cemetery or something, but you should ask Lukas about that. I was just calling to tell you that Berwald and I won't be able to be there with you three. It's been five years, but with all the recent events, Berwald just isn't up to reliving all of that."

"Oh okay. I can understand that." The poor guy had just met his dead ex about a month ago, and it had probably reopened a few wounds.

"Tell Lukas we're sorry, okay?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Emil, I'll talk to you later!"

They hung up, and Mathias quickly questioned him.

"Tino was calling about Lukas's death day," Emil explained.

"Death day? Like the day he died?"

"Yeah, obviously."

"God, I completely forgot, but that's coming up, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I forgot, too. Some boyfriends we are."

"Well, Lukas never really talks about it. If I hadn't found that article in the library, we probably wouldn't even know the date."

"But we do, and Tino said we might want to do something for it."

"So he called to remind us?"

"No, actually he called to say that they're not coming to visit for it. Berwald is kind of..."

"Yeah, that makes sense. So, are we supposed to plan a surprise party or something?"

"No, we'll just ask Lukas what he wants to do."

"That sounds like a better idea," Mathias chuckled as he pulled up to Emil's house. "So, do you need help with homework today?" he asked with a wink.

Emil looked at his phone, hoping that would hide any potential blush. "Um, yeah."

"Alright, then lead the way!"

Emil entered his house and made his way up to his room with his boyfriend following behind. He wasn't actually sure if he was allowed to have Mathias over when his parents weren't home, since they had never had that promised "rules talk." But between their different friend groups, school, and Mathias's various extracurricular activities, they hadn't had much alone time together in the past couple of weeks. Well, not like they were really alone, with the addition of their ghostly boyfriend.

"Haven't seen you in a while," Lukas said when they entered Emil's room.

"Is that really how you're going to greet me?" Mathias laughed, scooping the ghost into a hug.

"Well, it's not my fault I can't just come to your house," Lukas answered, pushing him away softly. "You two look rather serious today."

"Tino called me on our way here," Emil said carefully. "He said he and Berwald won't be here for your anniversary."

"Anniversary?" Lukas frowned. "Oh, that. Is it really that time of year again?"

"I guess it is," Mathias said solemnly. "Sorry about Berwald."

"It's not a big deal," Lukas answered, shaking his head. "I mean, it would just be a lot more...painful with him around."

"Do you want to do something for it?" Emil asked. "We could go to the cemetery or something."

"Why bother? That's not me down there anymore."

"But still," Mathias said, "it might be nice to do something sentimental."

"Well, if you two really want to, we can, I suppose."

Emil and Mathias exchanged a glance.

"Lukas, this is more about what you want to do," Mathias pressed carefully.

"Yes, fine, let's go visit my grave," he replied quickly. "But right now, I think we have more important things to do."

"Yes, like 'homework'." Mathias grinned.

Emil's parents finally threw a house warming party when they unpacked the last of their boxes, three months after moving in. And "house warming party" actually just meant that they invited the Køhlers over. Between both sets of parents and Mathias, Emil spent most of the time being teased, and if it weren't for Mrs. Køhler's anti-hocus-pocus amulet, Lukas would have been in on it, too. As it was, he wasn't even able to be in the same room as her.

The teasing finally let up when Emil's mom suggested they play a board game, and Emil's dad left to search the closet for games. The relief didn't last long, however, because he soon returned with a huge smile on his face.

"Guess what I found," he said happily, showing off a dusty box.

"Oh, my god," gasped Mathias's dad, "our old Ouiji board!"

"Oh, no," Emil groaned to himself, shooting Mathias a look.

"Did someone say 'Ouiji'?" Lukas asked from the top of the stairs.

"I can't believe you still have that! We have to give it a try!" The dads smiled at each other excitedly like they were children again, and Emil suppressed another groan.

"It won't work, dear," said Mathias's mother gently.

"That's right, you have that little mumbo-jumbo thingy." Mathias's dad looked at her helplessly. "You could go in the next room?"

Emil's mom laughed. "Yes, let's go in the kitchen and let the boys play with their toy."

As soon as they left the room, Lukas came down the stairs and settled on the other side of the board from the dads.

"This is a bad idea," Emil said to Mathias.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Mathias replied, shrugging.

"Aren't you boys going to join us?" Mathias's dad asked.

"I'll pass," Emil replied, crossing his arms.

"Suit yourself," said his dad. The men put their hands on the pointer, and Lukas followed suit.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this," he said, smirking.

"Is anyone there?" Mathias's dad asked. Lukas slid the pointer to Yes. The two men looked at each other excitedly.

"What if it's just one of you two moving it?" Mathias asked casually.

"We would never trick each other like that," Emil's dad huffed in offense. "If the board says a spirit is here, then there really is."

"If you say so."

"What is your name?" Mathias's dad asked the board. The pointer moved slowly from letter to letter: L-U-K-A-S. "Lukas? Wasn't that the kid who died here?" The pointer quickly slid to Yes.

"Woah," Emil's dad breathed. "Are there any other spirits here, Lukas?"

No.

The dads looked at each other nervously.

"What is it?" Emil asked.

"We've never encountered a real ghost," Mathias's dad admitted. "I don't remember what we wanted to ask."

"Um, is there anything you would like to tell us, Lukas?"

The ghost looked at Emil and Mathias with a mischievous smirk. Slowly, the pointer began to move again: Y-O-U-R-S-O-N-S-A-R-E-H-O-T. Mathias nearly choked. The dads laughed in confusion, and Emil was doing his best to glare daggers into the ghost.

"If looks could kill…oh, but I'm already dead." Lukas gave him a cheeky grin. "Would you rather have me slam doors and make the walls bleed?"

"How's it going?" asked Emil's mom as she and Mathias's mom walked back into the living room.

"Aw, you're going to scare the ghost away," Emil's dad whined.

"Oh, did you find one?"

"Um, Dad?" Emil began in an attempt to distract him. "If you believe in ghosts, why didn't you ever believe me when I said I could see them?"

"What, you mean when you were 8, and you had just watched The Sixth Sense?" Emil's dad laughed.

"We didn't let him watch The Sixth Sense when he was 8," Emil's mom said.

"Well, you didn't let him…"

"Erik!"

"Look, kiddo, now you've got me in trouble…"

"But why didn't I ever hear about this?" Emil's mom continued.

"Because you didn't want him to watch it."

"No, I mean that he could see ghosts."

"He was a little kid with an overactive imagination. He only thought he could see ghosts."

Right, I only thought I could see your cousin who had just killed himself.

"You believed me when I told you I could sense spirits."

"Wait, what?" Emil almost shrieked.

"Didn't we ever tell you that, sweetie? That's how we became friends."

"Yeah, but you were 20, not 8," Emil's dad responded.

"Lilly, I didn't know you could sense them, too," Mathias's mom commented.

"I don't really anymore," explained Emil's mom. "I think I grew out of it, or I just learned to block it out. I'm just saying, Erik, that maybe Emil was telling the truth."

"Okay, fine. Emil, can you see ghosts?"

Emil froze. He had dealt with his condition by himself for so long, he didn't know if he wanted to tell his parents anymore. He definitely didn't want to tell them he was in a relationship with the ghost in his bedroom. We he didn't respond, Mathias poked him gently.

"This is stupid. I'm not talking about it anymore," he said, rolling his eyes.

"So there's a ghost in my house, and my son can see it," Emil's dad summarized jokingly. "No wonder you were so scared to move into your room."

"I was not!"

"That's enough talk about ghosts," Mathias's mom said resolutely. "Let's play a game."

"You didn't tell them," Lukas remarked, leaning over Emil as he lay in bed later that night.

"It wasn't the right time," Emil responded with his eyes shut. "I didn't want to talk about it in front of the Køhlers, because I didn't know if Mathias wants to tell his parents."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Throw a rager."

"I'm serious."

"Me, too. Dead serious."

Emil sat up and met the ghost's eyes, resisting the urge to roll his. "Well, it's your day, so we can do whatever you want."

"This is weird," Lukas said as they pulled up to the cemetery.

"We can leave if you want," Mathias said.

"No, we're already here. I'm just saying it's weird."

Emil got out of the car, carrying a big pile of blankets. "Do you know where it is?" he asked his ghostly boyfriend.

"Yeah, it's this way." Lukas silently led them to his gravestone. He seemed to float across the ground, making the whole situation even eerier. When they found it, he stared down at it for several minutes. Emil felt very strange standing above his boyfriend's grave with the man himself.

Lukas Thomassen

1993 – 2010

Beloved son and friend

"Nothing fancy," Lukas commented quietly. "That's my parents' style. Too bad it's a lie."

"Why don't we sit down?" Mathias suggested, putting a hand on the ghost's shoulder.

"Sure, why not." Emil spread one of the blankets out on the ground for them to sit on, then they wrapped up in the rest of them.

"It wasn't this cold that day," Lukas whispered. "It was unusually warm and sunny. A good day to die, I guess." He paused and sighed. "Sorry, you two don't want to hear about this."

"If it helps you to talk about it, I don't mind listening," Emil said.

"It doesn't bother me either," Mathias said, pulling the other two closer.

"Alright then," Lukas said. "Let me tell you how I died.

"I had gotten my early admission and full ride scholarship to university, and for once in my life, I felt like my parents were proud of me. Berwald had wanted me to tell my parents about us for a while, so I thought that was as good a time as any. Well, you know how that went. They told me they couldn't have a gay son, and they would rather have no son at all.

"They went out to a dinner party that night. I was supposed to go with them, but they didn't want to look at me right then. I realized then that I had wasted my whole life trying to please these people who would never really love me. I couldn't figure out how to turn that around, so I decided just to give up.

"I got some rope from the garage and tied it inside my closet. I knew exactly how to tie it, so it wouldn't break under my weight. Next thing I knew, my head was through the loop, and I was kicking the chair out from under me.

"I knew it wouldn't be instantaneous, but I didn't expect it to take as long as it did." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Did you regret it during…?" Mathias asked softly.

"Pretty much as soon as I kicked the chair away. But, like I said, I tied the rope, so it wouldn't break. Maybe if I hadn't been so stressed, if I had eaten more in the weeks before, I would have been heavy enough to pull the bar down in my closet. But I had already made my choice.

"After I don't know how long, everything started to go fuzzy, then dark, and then I felt myself falling. When I woke up, I was looking at my body from the outside. I got to watch my parents find me. They seemed sad enough, but I didn't understand why. They immediately blamed my sexuality, guessing that I had been bullied at school. They were right, but that didn't bother me as much as their own rejection."

Emil suppressed a shudder. Lukas told his story with cold precision, and his face held no emotion. He looked, well, dead.

They heard another car pull into the parking lot. A couple dressed in freshly pressed black clothing stepped out of the car.

"That's my parents," Lukas whispered, surprise overtaking the numbness from before.

"Well, I guess it makes sense that they would come here today," Mathias commented.

"They have no right to be here," Emil grumbled. "If they couldn't appreciate you in life, they don't get to grieve for you."

"I don't care," Lukas said quickly. "Like I said, that's not me down there anymore." His voice was shaking, and that made Emil very angry.

"Oh, hello," said Lukas's mother, looking down at them in surprise.

"Mother," Lukas whispered.

"Er, hi," Mathias greeted awkwardly.

"Did you, uh, know Lukas?" Emil was suddenly very aware of Mathias's arms around him. These people were homophobic jerks here to honor their gay son's suicide.

"Yes, we did," he answered stubbornly.

"You're a little young to have known him," said Lukas's dad sternly. "I think you had better leave."

"No, I think you'd better leave."

"Excuse me?"

"I know what you did to him, and you don't deserve to call yourselves his parents."

"Young man, you don't know what you're talking about. You'd better leave, before we call the police," Lukas's mom threatened icily.

"It's fine," Mathias said quickly, standing up. "We're leaving." He guided Emil out of the cemetery with Lukas trailing behind silently.

"What the hell?" Emil demanded when they got in the car.

"They're not worth it, Emil. They just want to put down some flowers to make themselves feel better. Sure, they don't deserve to, but it's not worth getting the cops called on us."

"It just makes me so mad that they get to pretend it wasn't their fault."

"Thank you, Emil," Lukas said quietly from the back. "I appreciate it, but don't get yourself in trouble."

"Come on, everyone, buckle up. Let's get out of here before they get my license plates."

"Where are we going?" Emil asked as he put his seat belt on.

"That's up to the man of the day."

"I don't care."

"How about a leaf drive? Most of the leaves have already fallen, but it might be nice to clear our heads."

They drove around for a while, listening to the radio. Emil started to calm down.

"Are you okay, Lukas?" he asked gently, turning in his seat to look at the ghost.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied, looking out the window. "At least they can't see me. I think they'd find some way to ground me."

"Why don't we go back to my house?" Mathias suggested finally. "My parents are going out tonight, so my mom won't be a problem."

Lukas grunted his assent.

"I want to grab some things from my house first," Emil replied.

"Alright, we'll swing by there first."

They pulled up to Emil's house, but Mathias couldn't park in his normal spot; there was already a car there. A car they had already seen that day.

"What on earth?" Lukas said quietly.

"Let's just go straight to my place," Mathias said quickly, shifting his car back into gear.

"No," Emil replied, unbuckling his seat belt. "You two stay here, I'll be right back." Without another word, he opened the door and got out of the car, stomping up to his house.

"Wow, the house looks so different already," Lukas's mom was saying as he walked in.

"Oh, Emil," said his own mom. "These are the Thomassens, the previous owners of this house."

"It's you," Lukas's dad gasped.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Emil asked icily.

"Emil! Today is the anniversary of…well, you know, and they're here to honor their son," answered his dad.

"You didn't honor him in life, you don't get to pretend to mourn him."

"Listen, son, you have no idea what we've been through," Lukas's dad said angrily.

"I know that it's your fault your son is dead! You don't even deserve to call yourselves his parents!"

"Emil Steilsson! Go to your room!" yelled his dad.

"Fine, I'm just grabbing things to go to Mathias's anyway."

"Forget about it, you're grounded. Give me your phone."

He grudgingly gave his phone to his dad and stomped up to his room, slamming the door behind him. He looked out the window and saw his dad going outside and talking to Mathias, who then drove away. He was so mad, it was all he could do not to throw something. Lukas had suffered all his life under the thumb of his parents, then after he died he suffered for five years in an empty house. Now these monsters who called themselves his parents were trying to gain sympathy by mourning him, as if they hadn't had anything to do with his death.

He was surprised to feel tears rolling down his cheeks. He buried his head in his pillow and made a disgruntled sound. He was being an idiot, and now he couldn't be with Lukas when he needed him.

There was a knock at his door.

"Emil, it's me," called his mom.

"Come in." She walked in and sat at the foot of his bed.

"So, do you want to tell me what just happened?" she asked calmly, rubbing his back.

"I can't," he answered miserably.

"Why not?"

"It's not my business to tell, and you wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Is this about what happened last night? About the ghost?" Emil said nothing in response, and she sighed. "I was able to sense ghosts when I was younger, you know. Over time, I guess I was able to suppress it, but when I was really young, I could feel their emotions. And I never met a happy spirit. And this house sat empty for nearly five years, possibly with a ghost inside. I can't imagine anything lonelier than that."

Suddenly, Emil started to sob.

"Oh, honey," cooed his mom, pulling him into a hug. "You can talk to me about this, I promise."

"They tried to blame it on bullying, but they were the ones who drove him to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"They found out that he was gay, and they disowned him. His whole life was about pleasing them, but they were never happy with him."

"His parents?" Emil nodded, and his mom let out a long breath. "Well, I can't imagine treating you that way. It's hard to imagine any parent acting like that, but unfortunately there are people like that with children. If that's true, it's no wonder why he, well, you know."

"They don't deserve to mourn him."

"That may be so, but it's not our place to decide that. They may have realized their mistake and are trying to make it up to their son by honoring his death."

"I doubt it."

"Emil, you really care about this boy."

"He's…my friend, sort of, and he's been through a lot."

"Is he…here now?" Emil's mom looked around uncertainly.

"No, he's not in the house right now. He didn't want to see his parents."

"Alright, well, you're not grounded. I can't punish you for standing up for someone."

"Then can I go to Mathias's?"

"Sure, sweetie, I'll go talk to your father. Here is your phone." She gave him back the device, and he sent a quick text to Mathias as he followed her out of his room.

He rode his bike as quickly as he could to the Køhlers' and practically ran to the front door when he arrived. When Mathias and Lukas answered the door, he threw his arms around the both of them.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here," Emil said.

"It's alright," Lukas replied. "You're here now."

Tino called later that night to check in with them, and Emil told him what had happened. He and Berwald arrived in town the next day, all pain forgotten in favor of making sure Lukas was alright. He and Berwald went off by themselves to talk, which was probably good for the both of them.

"He's looking well," Tino commented. Emil and Mathias looked at him, but he gave no hint of sarcasm.

"I think he looks worse than when I first met him," Emil said.

"That may be true, but his aura looks much brighter than when I first saw him."

"Ghosts have auras?" Mathias asked. "I always thought they just were auras."

Tino shook his head. "Everyone has an aura, spirit or mortal. You two are good for him, and I think getting some closure with Berwald has helped, too. I know it's helped Berwald a lot."

"That's good to know," Mathias said. "I was really worried about him yesterday."

"I think he'll be fine. In fact, he may even be able to move on someday."

"Move on?" Emil asked. "Wait you mean, like move on?!"

"Yes, of course." Tino scrutinized the younger boy. "That's usually the goal with spirit's, otherwise they're forced to watch the people they care about grow old and move away or die."

"I guess I never thought about that." Mathias wrapped an arm around him.

"It'll be his choice, I'm sure, if he gets that far," said his boyfriend.

"Well, there is something else…" Tino said. "I'm not sure if it's real or not. I've only heard about it from my grandpa, and I'm not sure where he got it from."

"What is it?" Emil asked.

"Instead of moving on, if a proper ritual is conducted, a spirit can come back to life."

"Come back? What does that mean?"

But they didn't have a chance to discuss it further, because Lukas and Berwald came back at that moment. Emil put it out of his mind but resolved to question Tino more later on. For now, he was going to spend time cheering his other boyfriend up and appreciate the strange situation the five of them were in.

A few months ago, he dreaded seeing ghosts and hated the idea of having to live near one. Now, he couldn't imagine a life without Lukas in it. Even if he did tend to rearrange Emil's things in the middle of the night. He caught the ghost's eye and received a small, genuine smile. It warmed his heart, and before he knew what he was doing, Emil had his arms wrapped around his boyfriend, ignoring the cold radiating from him. Yes, it was a strange relationship that he, Lukas, and Mathias had, but it was good, and he wouldn't trade it for anything.

The End.

AN: It's finally finished! Thanks a bunch to everyone who stuck it out with me, I know it's been over a year since I last updated. I'm not planning to write a sequel/epilogue/whatever to this, so you can decide yourself what happens to our favorite characters. If you enjoy my stories, please check out my writing blog, since I have some notes and extra snippets and ficlets on there. Thanks again for reading!