a/n: I won't be posting this often this quickly, but I happened to get this chapter done and don't know when I'll have time to update after this... so here goes nothing! Enjoy, and please review! And thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! :)

Title: How to Woo a Ghost

Author: Elizabeth5

Rating: PG-ish

Pairings: M/A, G/N, and some M/OC, A/OC

Disclaimer: I don't own Being Human, or Mitchell, or Aidan Turner. But if a genie ever grants me three wishes...

How to Woo a Ghost

Chapter Two: Double Date

Mitchell awoke to the smell of French toast and bacon. Smiling, he bounded down the stairs to find George and Nina already scarfing down platefuls of food while Annie worked away happily at the stove. Spotting him, she beamed. "Morning, Mitchell!"

"Morning." Pulling up a chair, he reached for an empty plate and began loading it up. "What's the big occasion?"

"Andrew called," George announced, wiggling his eyebrows, and Annie beamed to confirm it.

Mitchell found he had suddenly lost his appetite. Still, for appearance's sake, he cut off a square of toast and tried to smile. "Did he? And what did old Drew want?"

In his passive aggressive attempt to undermine Andrew, Mitchell had taken to nicknaming him Drew. He hadn't yet confirmed it, but he imagined Andrew probably didn't like being called Drew. Or at least, he hoped.

"Andrew asked me out for this afternoon," Annie informed him happily. "We're going ice skating."

Mitchell tried to think of something snarky to say, but the look on Annie's face made the words die on his lips. She looked so happy. "That sounds like fun," he said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure you'll have a good time."

Continuing to beam, Annie turned off the stove and wiped her hands on the dish towel. "Well, I'm going to see to cleaning the attic. Wish me luck!" And with that, she disappeared upstairs.

Mitchell watched after her a moment, digging morosely into his toast. "I don't like this Andrew guy," he announced to no one in particular. "He's too... too... you know. You know?"

George sputtered. "What's not to like? He's handsome, independently well-to-do, has magical powers, and seems to really like Annie."

"Exactly," Mitchell muttered darkly.

Fortunately, Nina chose that moment to rush out of the room, hand clasped over her mouth, or else Mitchell might have had to explain himself. George rose to his feet after her, expression worried. "Sweetheart, are you all right?"

"Bite me!" Nina retorted from the other room, following up with a loud retching.

George and Mitchell exchanged disgusted looks. "I should..." George motioned toward the bathroom, and reluctantly followed after her.

Well, there was no reason to stick around all day, not if it was going to be the vomit hour with Remus and Tonks. Plus, he really didn't want to be around when Andrew came to pick up Annie. Ice skating. Who went ice skating anymore, anyway? On some artificial lake in a rink with cushy little handles on the wall in case you fell. Psh. Back in the day, people went to an actual lake where you risked death every time because you might break through the ice and plunge into the icy water and... okay, he was going into Grandpa-mode again. Time to leave.

He found himself at Shelly's flat, ringing the buzzer irritably. She answered a moment later, every five-foot-ten sultry blond inch of her, and gave him a slow smile. "Hello, stranger. Where the hell have you--"

But Mitchell pounced on her before she got a chance to finish the sentence.

#

Mitchell waited what he thought was a reasonable amount of time afterward before turning to Shelly. "So tell me more about this Andrew guy. Where's he from, what's his family like, does he have a criminal record. You know, the usual."

A long pause, and then Shelly propped herslef up onto her elbow and gave him an incredulous look. "Seriously?"

He tried to smile. "Well, I was only joking about the criminal record part. Unless he has one..."

Shelly shook her head. "You come here, shag me senseless, and not five minutes later start interrogating me about Annie's new boyfriend? Could you maybe try being a little less transparent?"

Okay so maybe it hadn't been a reasonable amount of time... "He's not her boyfriend," he couldn't help but point out. "It's only their second date."

Needless to say, Shelly kicked him out after that.

The house was empty by the time he made it back. George had left a note that he and Nina were grocery shopping, and Annie was no doubt still on her date with Andrew the amazing. Mitchell raided the fridge, grabbed the only edible thing he could find, which was a half-eaten block of cheese, then headed upstairs to his room. After finishing the cheese, he hopped in the shower and afterwards pulled on his skivvies and headed to his bedroom, humming to himself. He took a moment gathering his dirty clothes and throwing them in the hamper; when he finished and turned back around, Annie was standing in the doorway, gaping at him.

Mitchell waited for her to say something, but she was too busy staring, eyes running over the lines of his body like she was committing him to memory. Finally, he cleared his throat, grinning as her eyes snapped up to his face. "Take a picture. It'll last longer." Pondering his own words, Mitchell frowned. "Actually, no, it won't, because I don't show up on film, so... stare away."

"I wasn't staring," Annie protested, her cheeks a nice rosy shade of pink. He hadn't known ghosts could blush. It was adorable. "I was just lost in my thoughts, and you happened to be standing right in my line of sight, so..." She trailed off, seeming to realize Mitchell wasn't buying it, and quickly changed the subject. "Andrew asked me out again for tomorrow. Dinner and dancing. At that new big band restaurant in town."

Feeling the smile fade from his face, Mitchell grabbed a shirt off the bed to distract himself and started dressing. "That's great, Annie. Sounds like fun."

Annie twisted her hands together, chewing on her lip. "I guess..."

Mitchell watched her carefully. "Do you not want to go?" he asked, trying not to let his voice sound too hopeful.

She shook her head. "No, I do, I just..." Abruptly, she met his gaze, her eyes baleful. "I dont know how to dance!"

He gaped at her in disbelief. "How is that even possible with a girl born in the MTV era?"

Annie shook her head. "I know how to dance, like Beyonce dance." She busted a move for him as proof before continuing, "but I don't know how to swing dance or jive or whatever they call it, and I thought you might because you're old."

He blinked at her. "Well, thanks for that."

"You know what I mean." Annie put on her best puppy-dog eyes. "Teach me?"

Mitchell held out for as long as he could, but there was really no saying no to those eyes. "Fine. But can I put on some pants first?"

The cute little blush again. "Please do."

When he was fully dressed, he joined Annie in the living room. Annie was sitting on the ground, flipping through the CD case, but Mitchell waved her off, pulling his I-Pod from his pocket. "No need. I have everything we need right here."

Annie scrunched up her nose at him. "You have that stuff on your I-Pod? You really are an old fogey."

Mitchell leveled a finger at her. "Hey, this stuff happens to be 1,000 times better than any of that Britney Backstreet junk they call music today." He put the I-Pod in its holder and found an Ella Fitzgerald ballad. "Tell me this isn't better than Gwen Stefani."

They listened a moment before Annie begrudgingly rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess it isn't awful. But at least Gwen knows a thing or two about a good beat."

"You want a good beat?" Mitchell flipped through until he found a Duke Ellington tune, then pulled Annie to her feet. "These guys invented rhythm before old Gwen was even a twinkle in her grandfather's eye."

Annie couldn't help but grin back at him, caught up in his enthusiasm. "Oh, yeah? Prove it."

They danced. Wild, goofy, enthusiastic, over-the-top. They jived, they swung, they did the Charleston (even though Mitchell was quick to point out it was the wrong time period, to which Annie rolled her eyes and called him a fogey again). He couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much fun in... ever. By the tenth song or so, both he and Annie were laughing so hard they were in tears and had to hold onto each other to stop from falling over.

"Did everyone have this much fun in the '40s?" Annie asked him, clutching onto his arm.

"Aside from that pesky world war?" Mitchell shrugged, grinning. "Yeah, it was a blast."

Suddenly, the song changed from the fast, upbeat tempo with which they'd been practicing to something slower and more melodic, Loius Armstrong's "As Time Goes By." Self-consciously, Mitchell tried to release Annie and move away, but to his surprise, she was already moving into his arms, fitting there more easily than she had any right to. She looked straight into his eyes, smiling a little, swallowing. "Shall we?"

Mitchell swallowed heavily, falling into the rhythm of the song. He pulled her closer; it was easier if he didn't have to see her face, didn't have to remember that it was Annie that smelled so good and felt so right swaying against his body. It was easier to tell himself that it was natural to feel this way about a friend, that a platonic roommate should naturally be able to set every nerve ending on alert at even the hope that some part of her would brush against him.

"Ahem," came a voice from the doorway.

Mitchell looked up to see Shelly standing at the entryway, watching them with a raised eyebrow. He immediately released Annie, although in hindsight, that probably only made him seem more guilty. "Shelly. What are you doing here?"

She gave a bitter smile, shaking her head. "I came to apologize for overreacting this afternoon. But apparently, I didn't. Color me embarrassed." With that, she turned on her heel, heading for the door.

Mitchell raced after her. "It's not what you think--"

Shelly shot him a withering glare. "Right. Like that's the first time I've heard that in the last 80 years of my life. Honestly-- mobile phones, internet, cloning, but men are still using the same tired old excuses from the beginning of time--"

"I was teaching him to dance," Annie interrupted, stepping forward and playing nervously with the ends of her shirt. Shelly turned and stared at her. Mitchell stared, too, wondering where Annie was going with this. Swallowing, Annie pressed forward, "He wanted to surprise you and take you out to this new club with Andrew and I tomorrow, only he hasn't danced in a long time and he's rusty, so he asked for my help 'cause he wanted everything to be perfect. For you."

Shelly continued staring at Annie for a long moment, uncomprehending. She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and slowly turned to Mitchell. "Is this... true?"

Not knowing what else to do, Mitchell nodded.

"You want to take me out?" Shelly continued. "On an actual real-life date?"

Mitchell shrugged, forcing a grin. "I'm a man of many surprises."

Shelly seemed to be struggling to hide a smile. Mitchell realized with a start that it was the first time he'd actually seen her looking pleased. And it had taken incredibly little effort. Damn. He really was a crap boyfriend.

"So when are we going?" Shelly asked him.

Mitchell glanced over her shoulder to Annie for help. She mouthed him the answer. "Tomorrow. Uh... eight o'clock. Wear something nice."

Shelly grabbed him suddenly, pulling him into a fierce kiss. Mitchell was winded when she pulled away, and she smirked against him, murmuring huskily, "If you think random casual shagging is good, wait until you try actually-dating shagging. You won't be disappointed."

Mitchell grinned at her as visions of-- ahem-- sugar plums danced in his head. "Can't wait." And still grinning, he watched her saunter to the door, giving her one last wink before she left.

Once she was gone, he sighed in relief, turning back to Annie. "Thanks a million. You're a life saver--"

But Annie had disappeared out of the room, leaving Mitchell alone.

#

"I hate dressing up," Mitchell complained as George helped him fix his tie in the front entryway. Andrew and Shelly were supposed to meet them at the house and were due any minute, and Annie was still upstairs fiddling around, so that left George as his sole fashion advisor, which didn't exactly inspire too much confidence. "I mean, maybe if the coat came with tails, or a bowler hat..."

George tutted, finishing with Mitchell's tie. "As much as I'm sure Shelly wants to date a penguin, I think you're better off like this."

"Who wants to date a penguin?"

Both men turned and then did a double-take at the sight of Annie coming down the stairs. She was out of her normal gray and white ensemble and was wearing a red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and made her skin do a pretty, glowing thing that was making it difficult not to stare.

Seeming embarrassed but pleased by the attention, Annie ventured down another step. "Is it all right?" Another step. "It's too much, isn't it?"

"You're perfect," Mitchell breathed, and immediately felt stupid for saying it.

Fortunately, George chimed in before it could get too awkward, attempting a cat-call whistle. "Me-ow. Someone is looking fierce!" Seeing Annie and Mitchell's looks, he cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. "Nina's been making me watch reruns of America's Next Top Model with her..."

Annie gave him a look, exchanging a glance with Mitchell. "Right. I'm sure it was all Nina's doing."

Someone knocked on the door. It struck Mitchell suddenly that he wasn't the only one who was going to see Annie in that dress, that Andrew was going to see her looking all gorgeous and... shiny. Abruptly, he shrugged off his coat, thrusting it at her. "You'll probably need this. It's cold outside."

Annie gave him a quizzical smile. "I'm fine."

"I hear there's a cold front moving in," Mitchell insisted. "You don't want to get sick, do you?"

"Mitchell. I'm dead. I don't think it'll matter all that much."

George rolled his eyes, reaching to open the door. "For goodness sake, Mitchell, stop acting like a jealous boyfriend."

That effectively shut Mitchell up.

It was Shelly and Andrew at the door. Shelly looked absolutely stunning in a shiny silvery dress that showed off an impressive amount of leg, but Mitchell hardly noticed. He was too busy watching Andrew slowly take in Annie's appearance and seeing the flush that crept up Annie's neck as Andrew brought her hand to his lips.

Oh, tonight was going to be bloody fantastic.

#

It was the third slow dance in a row, and Andrew and Annie were swaying closely together in the middle of the dancefloor, a perfect match, acting like there was no one else in the room. Mitchell glowered at them and gripped his fork tightly in his hand, the ridges digging into his flesh. Get a room! he wanted to shout at them, but was afraid they might follow his advice.

"Mitchell." Mitchell looked up, startled to see Shelly glaring at him from across the table. He'd half-forgotten she was even there. "You haven't even asked me to dance yet."

He blinked, shaking his head. "Sorry. Sorry, Shelly, I'm being an arse. Would you like to..." He started out of his chair, reaching for her, but couldn't help one more glance at Annie, who was giggling at something Andrew had just whispered in her ear.

When he looked back, Shelly had a resigned look on her face. She gave a weary sigh. "Sit down, Mitchell."

Frowning, he obeyed. "What's up?"

Shelly shook her head, her lips pursed. "I'm not stupid, you know. Dead, scared of spiders, and a little bit slutty, but not stupid."

Mitchell blinked a few times, waiting for her to elaborate. "I'm not following you..."

To his surprise, Shelly laughed, shaking her head, and the look she gave him afterward was almost pitying. "You know, the funny thing is, I think you've actually convinced yourself of that. Take some time, Mitchell. Think about it. In fact, tonight should be a good time, since you're going to spend it alone."

She rose to her feet, pausing at the edge of the table. "Only don't take too long to piece it together. She won't wait around forever."

And with that, she left, leaving a flabbergasted Mitchell in her wake.

TBC...

Coming Up: An awkward conversation involving birds and bees, a dinner party, and an unexpected guests.

Review and I'll send you happy Mitchell thoughts!