The Seven Stages of a Relationship

Summary: Ghostwriter has read books on relationships. He's written them. But he's never actually had a relationship. So when Technus turns up at his library one day, Ghostwriter isn't quite sure what to expect.

Warnings: Gay love/yaoi/slash/male x male action! No like, no read. There's also enough fluff in this to choke to death on, so be careful, okay?

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N: Yay for new chapter! Gimme a, um ... letter! I gots my fanart off The-Other-Ghostwriter, and it is AWESOME! *Falls over* I loves it. HERE'S THE LINK, NOW GO AND FAVE IT!

http:/ /the13thunluckyjinx. deviantart. com/#/ d2yktvh

ERASE THE SPACES. GO SEE IT NOWS.

Thanks to AniryhMoonstar, The-Other-Ghostwriter and xXxMartelxXx for reviewing!

Chapter 3 - Holding Hands

It had been one week since Andrew and Nicolais first date and since then they'd been back to the Human World again (This time they went to a nightclub that Technus had heard of from Ember, and when a guy had started hitting on Ghostwriter persistantly, the novelist practically had to drag the furious Techno-ghost away from the club to stop him from beating the poor human into becoming a ghost, himself) and Technus had been round to Andrews library a few times. Today though, the novelist had been brought to Nicolais Lab - which, not surprisingly, was filled with all kinds of technology, making Andrew slight to moderately nervous.

Putting the finishing touches on something that was no doubt either for Skulker to hurt the Ghost Boy with, or for Technus himself to hurt the Ghost Boy with, Nicolai smirked and walked over to the couch Andrew was sitting on, settling next to the ghost and wrapping his arm around the smaller mans shoulders. Shifting slightly, Andrew curled himself into the Techno-ghosts side, making himself comfortable as her continued reading his book.

Nicolai frowned slightly. It had been a week since their fist date, and Andrew was still nervous about the whole PDA thing. Obviously, the green ghost could understand where the novelist was coming from, 'Writer being brought up in a time when being gay wasn't a good thing, but ... they hadn't even held hands yet. Sure, there was touching, but that was all innocent gestures that could be mistaken as friendship, and Technus didn't want just friendship.

Noticing Andrew had reached the end of his chapter, Nicolai smirked and grabbed the book, glancing at the page number before closing it and sliding it down the table.

"What do you - ?" Andrew exclaimed before emitting a squeek as the taller ghost pushed him backwards, so the novelist was sprawled across the couch. "Get off me!" he shouted, looking completely undignified with his hair ruffled and his face flushed as the Techno-ghost pinned him down, smirking in the most perverted way.

"I, Nicolai Technus, will not release you until you agree to start holding my hand!" the white-haired ghost proclaimed, grinning.

Andrew blushed harder at the statement. "That's completely and utterly ridiculous! Of all the things you could be requesting, you chose that?"

Smirking, Technus leaned in and whispered in the novelists pointed ear. "Would you rather I requested something else?"

This time the writers face glowed bright red. "No, I wouldn't! I'll hold your hand if you get off me!" Shifting, Nicolai slid off Ghostwriters waist and back onto the couch, still smirking. Huffing, Andrew fixed himself, still blushing. "I won't forgive you for that," he snarked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Either way, you agreed to hold my hand if I got off you. I'm off, soooo ... " the green ghost trailed off holding out his hand. Andrew looked at it for a moment before placing his own hand in the Tech-ghosts palm, his blush returning as Nicolai interlocked their fingers.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Ghostwriter snorted and twisted around so Technus arm was back around his shoulders, but their fingers were still interlocked. "I don't see what the big deal is about holding hands, though," he commented.

Nicolai laughed. "I'm practically a ghostly computer system, and even I understand the importance of holding hands. Have you never been on a date before?" he snickered.

Andrew glared at the white-haired ghost. "I have been on a date before. Once. When I was seventeen."

" ... Really?"

"Yes. And it was such a disaster I vowed never to repeat the experiance as long as I lived."

"Which is why it's okay to date me?" Technus asked, grinning.

"Well, that's one way of looking at it," Andrew replied, a smirk playing over his features.

"So ... what was the date like?"

"Awful," the novelist replied in a deadpan voice.

" ... You'll have to tell me now, you know. Because I won't leave you alone until you do," Nicolai told Andrew, who pulled a face.

"What are the chances of you leaving me alone if I tell you?"

"Slim to none," the Techno-ghost confessed, smirking. Ghostwriter snorted. He wasn't getting out of this one.

"Well, by the time I was seventeen, I knew I had no inclination whatsoever to members of the opposite sex. But my father was the owner of a big bussiness, so, obviously, he set up this date with the daughter of one of his competitors. It wasn't so abnormal back then for a marriage to be arranged on the premise of joining two companies together," he explained, seeing the look of shock on Nicolais face.

"But anyway. She was, I suppose, attractive, to someone who likes that sort of thing. But she was as thick as twenty-two short planks stuck together with glue. Definately not what I look for in a person. She made me take her to a ridiculous dress shop where she spent three hours deciding on a colour for her new coat. I hated that. She wouldn't let me go to any of the bookstores in town or anything similar, proclaiming them 'nerdy' and 'lame'. In the end I just turned around and yelled at her, calling her a self-absorbed, shallow witch and left her in the middle of the street, most likely wondering what the phrase 'self-absorbed' meant."

Technus burst out laughing. "AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Scowling, Andrew punched his arm, the hit not having any effect on the gales of laughter coming from the Techno-ghost. "Shut up! I bet you've had a bad date before!"

"Nothing as bad as that," Nicolai replied, before bursting into fresh peels of laughter. Glaring at the ghost behind him, Andrew phased out of Technus' hold, stalking off. Calming down a few minutes later, Nicolai stood to go and find the probably still angry ghost. Searching, he found the novelist wandering around a corridor looking vaguely lost.

"Need some help?" Technus sniggered.

"Not from you!" the novelist retorted, crossing his arms and walking off in the opposite direction. Smirking, the other ghost just leaned against the wall. A few moments later Andrew walked back into the corridor, coming from the other end. Seeing Nicolai, he winced.

Pushing off the wall, Technus walked towards him, taking the smaller mans hand. "Security measure. It's what you'd call a 'Shifting Corridor'. It creates - "

"A continuous loop of corridors in a closed circuit" Andrew finished. "Should have guessed I had been going around in circles."

Smiling, Nicolai led Ghostwriter out of the corridor and back to the actual Lab part of his home. "I'm guessing you want to leave then?"

"It would be nice to get back to my Library," Andrew said, blushing. Walking hand in hand for a few minutes, they reached the front door.

"I'll see you again soon though, correct?" Nicolai confirmed, smiling slightly.

"Of course," the scarf-wearing ghost smirked. As Andrew walked out of technus' home, the ghost stopped him, their hands still linked.

"The importance of holding hands, so you know," informed the green-skinned man. "Is to show people that you don't care what they think of you, and that you're with someone you care about, and that's all that matters to you." And with that, Nicolai lifted Andrews hand, kissing it softly before smiling and closing the door, leaving a furiously blushing Ghostwriter on his doorstep.

A/N: Hooray for teh updatish, ja? Anywhos, I SOMEHOW MANAGED TO WRITE INNUENDOS INTO THIS FIC WITHOUT MEANING TO! Gosh. I have such a bad brain. *Falls off couch backwards* Bleh, short chapter though. *Cries* Fails.

Anyways, the updates are loved by you and the reviews are loved by me, so you see how this works? *Shameless begging* I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER IF YOU REVIEW! Not if you flame. Noted? Good.