"This is baaaaaad..."

Arthur paced around in his kitchen in distress. His hands were clutching at his hair and his body shook. Mystery was sitting on one of the chairs at the table and watching him. He had been doing this for the past couple of hours. Vivi hadn't shown up that day for school and she didn't return any of his calls. Her parents claimed to not have seen her from last night, and he couldn't find her anywhere! He checked everywhere he thought she could be.

How on Earth could she have disappeared overnight!? All he knew was that her father's motorcycle was missing. It could have only meant that she'd taken it somewhere. But where would she wanna go besides school and the library? Especially at night!? It didn't make any sense!

Arthur ran over to his fridge and grabbed a tub of ice cream. Taking a seat next to Mystery, he started to pile scoops into his mouth. It was the only comfort food he had, and his stress was piling up by the second. If he didn't calm down now, he was sure to call the police and have them run a search party. And he was too anxious to talk to any authorities!

Swallowing down his last scoop, he set his spoon aside and laid his head down on the table. The brain freeze should come any minute now. Mystery whined and pawed at him. He just laid there and took it like the pile of trash he was. When he bothered to look up, Mystery nudged him towards the left.

Arthur glanced in that direction and noticed it was the door to the garage. He looked back and gave Mystery a look. The dog simply jumped out of his chair and clawed at the door. Arthur put the lid back on the tub of ice cream and set back in the fridge. He was prepared to listen to anything and anyone. Even if it meant following his own dog.

He opened the garage door and Mystery ran in. He headed towards the shelves of boxes Arthur had piled in there and started sniffing around. When he found one that he was searching for, he bit the top and dragged it out. Arthur walked over and checked was inside. The contents made his heart stop and the sweat start to pour from his forehead.

Lewis' belongings.

Truth was, he kept everything he could find of Lewis and hid it in his garage just to make sure Vivi wouldn't remember him. He couldn't remember how long they'd been in there, but it must have been awhile. An empty space was in the middle of the box, and around it was pictures and such. Something was missing. Too bad he didn't remember what it was...

He looked at Mystery. The dog kept looking back to the box, which meant that it had something to do with Lewis. He felt the panic return to him and his body shook again. Could he have taken her? Or did Vivi suddenly remember about him and left? May be he came last night and killed her! O-Or maybe something else took her?

None of what he was thinking was good. Putting the shirt down, Arthur ran into the living room and grabbed the van's keys. He needed to find Vivi.

"Let me guess...you can fly?"

"Yes."

"Teleport?"

"Sort of."

"Walk through walls?"

"Yes."

"Communicate with other ghosts?"

"They never bother."

A giggle escaped Vivi's throat, and she nuzzled on his chest. Lewis brushed a strand of her hair out from her eyes. It took her awhile to get over what happened last night. Recollecting her memories must have made her grieve over his death again. He didn't think she would take the whole night to understand that he was there again and all that stuff really happened.

Vivi had insisted on sleeping with him that night, so he told the ghosts to fetch them some blankets and pillows. They ended up sleeping on the same couch they talked on last night. She didn't let go of him for one second while they slept. It was almost as if she was scared of losing him again. Which was ridiculous because she should have known that he wouldn't leave her. Hell, even after his death he missed her.

Vivi pet one of the miniature ghosts that flew by. They stopped in their tracks and levitated downwards to cup their head in her hand. Noticing that she was giving them attention again, some of the other ghosts started to fly towards the two. Before she knew it, Vivi had around 10 little ghosts in front of her making transparent purring noises.

She asked, "Lewis?"

"Yes?" He replied, pushing away the other ghosts around them that craved attention.

"Do any of these little guys have names?"

"Well-" He shoved a few away. "No. I've asked. None of them can remember their name."

"Well, then, I'll name them!" Vivi exclaimed. The ghosts waved their tails energetically and started panting like dogs. Many of the others ghosts flew into the room when they heard that she was going to name them. Seeing the room getting the crowded with these little, pink monsters, Lewis backed up in surprise. He protested. "Vivi-"

"This one's Itsy Bitsy." She booped the nose of the one, and turned to another. "You'll be Elliot, this one will be Theo, your buddy here will be Dusty...You! I've seen you nibbling on Lew Lew's suit! So, you'll be Nibbler, this one will be Clod, you'll be Dusty, and you'll be Bitty. Your friend here will be Piper, you'll be Theo..."

When he saw Vivi go around and naming each one she saw, Lewis sighed. As cute as his girlfriend was, she tended to be too sweet at times. Now that she was giving them names, they'll start to think that he LIKES them...

BUMP!

Mystery whined and rubbed the tip of head in pain. When Arthur sped through another bump, he was jolted to the side and held onto the car door. The teen took a sharp turn, which threw Mystery onto his lap. It was then that he finally pulled over and stopped. He took a look at the dog and asked, "You okay?"

Mystery off his lap and glared at him. Arthur gave him a sheepish smile in return, shrugging. "S-Sorry! I'm just trying to f-find Vivi. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere..."

Mystery jumped off from his lap and sat back in the passenger's seat. Arthur held his head in frustration on the steering wheel. His eyes were bloodshot and his clothes were stained with sweat. How on Earth did he think he'd find that mansion again? They only stumbled upon it last time by accident! It'd take some miracle to find it again.

When he glanced over to Mystery, an idea suddenly popped in his head. Reaching behind his seat and grabbing one of her backup sweaters, he held it out to the dog. When Mystery cocked his head at him, he asked, "Wanna help me find her, boy?"

At this, Mystery's tail wagged repetitively. He dug his nose into the sweater and, once he caught her scent, pawed at the car door. Arthur clicked Mystery's leash onto his collar and let the both of them out. Time to find her.

"Who's a good lil' ghostie? You are! Yes, you are! Who's such a cutie?"

One of the miniature ghosts levitated in front of Vivi and purred in her touch. Lewis was sitting on one of the nearby chairs with his arms crossed. After she was done naming the 100 ghosts in the mansion, she took the time to play with them as well. He thought for sure that she would want to talk with him more about the past and such, but none of it seemed to bother her. She was in a state of happiness and ease. Which was enough for him, really.

The ghost, or "Theo", glanced in his direction with a smug smirk. He communicated, Jealous?

Keep buttering it up and you'll have your heart ripped off from your body. Lewis threatened.

The ghost's eyes widened in fear and, taking a last glance at Vivi, flew off. Vivi stood there in confusion for a moment or two before shrugging it off and running back to Lewis. Once she reached him, she gave him another hug. The skeleton wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her shoulder. He'd never get tired of them.

"Lew Lew?"

"Yes, Vivi?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

When he looked over at her, he noticed the puppy eyes she used to give him when he was alive. She only used it if she were hungry, lonely, or really wanted something. In these circumstances, he'd figure that it was all three. He replied, "What would you like?"

"Can you make me a sandwich?"

Lewis let out a sigh. This definitely was his girlfriend. Although, it did occur to them that she hadn't had anything to eat since last night. And, even by then, it was more of a snack than a meal. He nodded. Vivi kissed his skull and got off of his lap so he could go make it. He fetched a couple of ghosts with him before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Vivi alone in the room.

She walked over to one of the bookshelves laid in the room and started to browse through it. They must be pretty old because some of them were dated back to the 60's and 70's. She thought for sure that it'd be all dusty with cobwebs, but they were neatly organized and very clean. It was too much of a disappointment for her because this place would look tons of times more spooky if it looked old.

The ghosts must be taking care of these, She thought and browsed through a book. They're doing a good job.

BAM!

The book flew out from her hands when she heard the sudden noise. Vivi quickly picked up and set it back on the shelf(probably out of order), then headed downstairs where the noise came from. She stopped in the middle of the staircase once she saw who it was.

Arthur.

He was looking around in the mix of determination and panic. Mystery was by his side, sniffing everything in sight. It looked like Arthur was about to yell a handful at someone. Apparently whatever he planned on doing backfired because he just stood there and looked around like he was lost. Climbing down the rest of the stairs, Vivi asked. "...Arthur?"

He whipped his head around and, once he saw Vivi, started running towards her. When he reached his friend, he gave her the biggest hug he could manage and took a step back. Mystery's tail wagged and he licked the bottom of her stocking. She readjusted her glasses and blinked at Arthur.

"...What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you!" He exclaimed, a dumb grim spread on his face. "You've been gone for a day, V! We were worried!"

"Is that so?" She asked and leaned down to pet Mystery. His tail wagged some more and he scooted closer to her. She could definitely tell that he missed her. Once she realized the situation, she withdrew her hand from Mystery and glared at Arthur. He gave her a confused look.

"...What? Did I say something wrong?"

"ARTHUR!" She yelled, a dramatic mood swing kicking in. She crossed her arms and glared some more daggers at him when he gave her a dumb look in return. She asked, "Care to explain yourself?"

He rubbed the back of his head. None of what she was saying made sense! He looked down at Mystery for help, but the dog merely shrugged. He gulped down his nervousness and turned back to Vivi. He asked, "...Explain what, V?"

"Why you killed Lewis!" She yelled again. "And why didn't you tell me!?"

His brown eyes widened in surprise. Shit. She remembered everything! How was he going to cover this up now?

"I-I..." He looked around, wondering if the ghost was anywhere near. He came for Vivi, but he didn't want to end up dead for the price. He stuttered, "D-Don't know what you're t-talking about, Vivi..."

"Of course you do!" She stomped her foot. "You know, I can see why Lewis called you a liar. You're not good at bluffing, Arthur."

"I-I'm not bluffing!" He snapped and felt a bead of sweat drop from his forehead. Vivi seemed to notice this and crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. When he looked at Mystery again for help, he noticed that the dog was giving him the same look. Arthur narrowed his eyes, as if to say: 'You're not helping.'

Sighing, he turned back to his friend. He said, "Okay, I-"

"Vivi?"

The two of them turned around and noticed that Lewis standing in the doorway. He held a plate that carried an 18-inch long sandwich, ingredients placed at random. The way Vivi usually liked it. She smiled at the sight of him and ran over to give him a hug. Arthur backed away nervously. He couldn't help but shake while he did so.

Lewis hugged her back with one arm and placed the sandwich aside. He turned to glare at Arthur. He asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I...I..." Tears came out of his eyes in fear. He gulped and said, "W-was l...looking...for Vivi..."

"Well, I'm right here, Arthur." Vivi remarked and turned back to him. "What did you want, exactly?"

"T-to..." He sniffled. "M-Make sure y-you're okay? I'm sorry, V...I'm so sorry..."

He placed his hands in front of his eye to hide the tears that were starting to pour out, and laid there on the floor. Mystery whined and pawed at him, but he only rolled in the other direction and sobbed. Vivi gave a sympathetic look to Lewis, but he too busy glaring at him and starting to summon fire. She smacked his hand. He winced and rubbed it in pain.

"Arthur..." She walked over and kneeled down beside him. "It's okay. Why did you keep it from me, though?"

"I-It wasn't my fault, V!" He said and sat up. "I was possessed! That cave wasn't normal. When Lewis was there in front of me, I felt half of my body turn cold and I couldn't control it!"

"Is that the truth?" She asked nonchalantly. Arthur nodded. Vivi sighed and patted his head, standing back up and walking back to her boyfriend. Mystery licked Arthur's face to comfort him. It didn't work because he was still crying and shaking because of the sight of Lewis. He looked like he was about to charge at him any second!

"I think you owe someone an apology, Arthur." Vivi said, placing a hand on Lewis' chest in concern. Arthur looked over and noticed the pissed expression the ghost wore. Immediately, he backed away and started crying again. Vivi smacked Lewis' hand again, and he gave her a look.

"What?"

"Both of you, make up. Glaring at him isn't going to help resolve this."

"Weren't you doing that a moment ago, though?"

Vivi pointed towards the shaking, crying figure on the floor. Lewis sighed and walked past her until he reached Arthur. Mystery started to growl, but realized what was going on. The dog stepped out of the way and brushed against Lewis sympathetically. Despite it all, that dog always knew what was going on. He probably remembered Lewis' death more than anyone else did.

Arthur kept laying there and crying. Lewis turned back to Vivi with a 'what do you want me to do?' look, which only resulted in impatient taps of the foot. He leaned down until he could reach Arthur's level(the price it pays to be tall). When he did, he asked, "Arthur?"

The teen froze in fear. Slowly, he started to turn around. A feeling of relief came through him when he saw the calm, sad look the ghost was giving him. Arthur wiped a tear from his face, sniffled some more, and shook. He said, "I-I'm really s-sorry, Lewis..."

Lewis went to say something, but turned silent. He couldn't forgive him. He knew that Arthur probably deserved it and it'd resolve everything, but he couldn't. The scar remained on them both for this long, and it will stay there for awhile. At least until he could get over it. You can't exactly quite forgive someone who pushed you off a cliff and into stalagmites that caused your death. Instead, he offered his hand towards him.

Arthur stared at it for a moment or two before looking back at Lewis. He gave him an approaching look, which got the teen to place his hand in his and shake it. Lewis could feel the sweat, coldness of his skin, and that he was still shaking. If only he could increase his grip to the point of breaking Arthur's carpals...

"F...friends?" Arthur gave him a nervous grin. Lewis gave him a firm nod as well a shake. He replied, "Friends. For now."

He felt Vivi hit his back. He rolled his eyes in his sockets and sighed. He said, "Friends."

The two of them stopped shaking hands and Lewis got back on his feet. Arthur kept petting Mystery to calm him down and remained there on the floor. Vivi gave Lewis a hug and thanked him for making up. There were a few more things they needed to do, but this was a good start. For the Mystery Skulls gang, anyway. She felt that a good future was awaiting them.

"Lewis?"

He turned back to Arthur. The teen rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact. He asked, "Y-you wanna j-join the gang a-again...?"

At this, Vivi's eyes lit up and she started jumping in front of him excitedly. Lewis took a moment to contemplate about it. He didn't really need to because he already knew what he was going to say. He just wanted to show Arthur that he wasn't fully comfortable with him. After a moment's thought, he said. "Yes. I will."

"YAY!" Vivi jumped up and hugged him. She ran over and picked Arthur off from the floor, dragging him over to Lewis. Mystery followed after them, wondering what she was planning to do. Once they were all close enough, Vivi wrapped her arms around the two for a group hug.

She said, "The Mystery Skulls gang is back again!"

Arthur felt his heartbeat blast through his chest once he realized how close he was to Lewis. He could feel the heat radiating off from his fire-consisting hair. If he stayed there a moment longer, he was sure he'd get burnt to a crisp. He got himself out of the group hug and gave her a grin.

"I parked the van not too far from here. You guys wanna' get going?"

Mystery nodded and wagged his tail some more. Vivi smiled and looked at Lewis, who gave her a 'why not?' shrug. She turned back to Arthur and exclaimed, "We're ready!"

So, the three walked down the hallways until he could see the front door. Vivi had her arms wrapped around them, and Mystery happily trotted behind. Arthur looked at Vivi quizzically. He asked, "You sure you're alright with all of this, V? Everything that's happened?"

"Of course I am!" They walked through the front of door and onto the dirt trail before them. "I understand everything, now."

THE END