Chapter 5: Stick Shifts and Secrets

As Vivi opened up the back of the van, Mystery came out to greet them with his bunny tail wagging as much as it could at the sight of his favorite person, the girl who had taken care of him for seven years. She wrapped her arms around the dog in greeting, looking back with the expectation of riding in the back with Lewis to discuss the hunt, but instead was met with nothing as he hurried past her and into the front seat of the car.

Arthur glanced at Lewis, then at Vivi's confused and somewhat hurt face. He powered down his Smash Bros. reluctantly, knowing something was amiss, "What's up, you guys look like you saw a ghost."

Arthur loved cheesy jokes.

"Yeah, we did. Quite a few, actually, it was amazing." Vivi responded, shrugging off any sadness for her usual smile. She hovered close behind Arthur on the nearby couch, the dog in her lap.

"You guys were in and out super fast, did you get them?"

"No, they were waiting for someone."

Arthur screwed up his eyebrows before starting the car again, "You're really weird, Bubbles. You know that, right?"

Vivi's smile was definitely sincere now-she loved that nickname, "Absolutely."

As the car whirred on and Arthur began heading for the nearest town, the Mystery Skulls van was completely silent for probably the first time ever. When with friends, Arthur was a decent talker, and Lewis and Vivi could go at it for hours without breathing when it came to ghosts and the supernatural. Even when they were sleeping, Vivi chattered as if she were wide awake-this silence was terribly awkward, even for the boy who hated social interaction.

"So, uh...should we, you know, sleep in the van or get a motel tonight?" Arthur attempted conversation, lifting a hand to ruffle his ginger hair. He hated being put on the spot like this, even if technically no one was pushing him to say anything.

Vivi sat up a little, "Actually, we're kind of low on money, so we sh-"

"A motel. Let's do a motel." Lewis, blushing brightly, interrupted, "I-I need to sleep in a bed."

Again, it was silent. They exited the forest paths for the open road, and as Arthur smoothly transitioned from one gear to the other on the stick shift of the Westy, Vivi reached past him to click on the radio. In order to reach the radio, she had to reach above both Lewis and Arthur through the middle seat up front, jumping a little to give the 'on' button a push. Arthur looked beneath her to Lewis, who had turned even redder as he tried to distance himself from the girl.

No way.

Arthur didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what was going on.

He stayed silent, looking back onto the road quietly while Maroon 5 blasted. Vivi, who had sat back down, swore under her breath and reached over again to start changing the channels, clearly not satisfied.

It took all of Arthur's willpower not to laugh like a maniac at Lewis' pained face.

She finally settled on a station, leaning back and looking at the two boys for a few moments, clearly feeling sort of left out.

See, Arthur thought to himself, this is why you don't make friends. It's too awkward.

Vivi had pulled out her notebook, her hand moving viciously back and forth as she wrote down the happenings of the hunt. Her eyes scanned the page at a mile a minute. Lewis was looking out the window, clearly wanting to be left alone.

With nothing else to do, Arthur continued to drive.

The relief he felt once he merged onto the exit and into the small town of Golton was nearly tangible. There was no way they could stay silent, what with their clients waiting for the explanation they had to come up with. Really, there is no easy way to say 'hey, your house is totally haunted but we chose to let the ghosts stay since they're waiting for someone, sorry'.

"Any plans on how to address our still-haunted clients?" Arthur asked Vivi, leaning his head back against the rest of his seat. She stayed silent for a few moments more, the sound of pencil quieted by the loudness of her thoughts.

"I guess we just have to tell them the truth. If we had used a ritual to get rid of the ghosts, they would have just become angry and done more damage to both the home and anyone in it. The house is...protecting them, in a way," She looked up from her piece of paper, sighing very loudly, "Whoever they are waiting for must be very important."

Arthur shook his head, "They're ghosts, Viv. All ghosts are waiting for someone, and that someone is us. You should've gotten rid of them so we could at least receive our pay."

Vivi hit him on the arm hard, "When you join us in a ghost investigation, you can make choices like that, scaredy-cat. How far are we from the client's house?"

"He's on the other side of town by the looks of it, so ten minutes tops."

Lewis whirled around, "Can you drop me off near the motel? I didn't sleep well last night, I think I need to rest." He attempted to speak calmly, but the edge of his voice was thick with pleading.

Arthur didn't believe him one bit-Lewis looked like he was ready to burst into a sprint if anything, "Sure, whatever. You got the money?"

Vivi began rummaging through her pockets, pulling out a black wallet with the Halo of the Sun on it from Silent Hill, "I got it. How much you think you'll need to get us two rooms, one night?"

Arthur answered back, "Just give him the wallet, it should only be twenty-five dollars a room I'd guess. How much we got to last us until the next job?"

"A hundred dollars in the wallet, but the emergency stash has a bit more." She handed the wallet to Lewis, and he drew back his hand as though she had burned him. More than anything, this hurt Vivi the most.

Arthur stopped in front of the motel, but Lewis had opened the door and jumped out even before they were fully stopped. Mystery hopped out after him, probably sensing that the boy needed company. With that, Vivi and Arthur were alone as they had been for so many years prior.

Vivi climbed into the front seat as Arthur began to drive again, "Well, that was weird."

"I don't know what I did. He clearly doesn't want to look at me, or touch me...or anything, really," Vivi sighed, looking down into her lap after she pulled on her seatbelt, "I hope I didn't...I don't know, scare him off. I like having more than one friend."

Arthur threw his hands up dramatically, "Well I'm offended! I can't believe you don't want to spend the rest of your life with me and only me!" The ginger teased. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see her smirk a little bit, "Don't worry, I'm sure he's just dealing with boy stuff. I'll talk to him."

Vivi's eyes lit up, "Would you really? I know you hate confrontation…"

"You two are the only friends I got, even if you're unhealthily obsessed with the afterlife and he's a football player with poor hair choice. Can't have you making it all awkward for me now, can I?"

She was smiling again, "You're the best, Cheeto."

He groaned at that, "I hate that name so much. I'm not that orange, you know."

Vivi reached over to put a tuft of hair back into place on the ginger's head, "It fits too well to give up."

Arthur knocked briskly on the door pointed out to him by the lady at the front desk, leaving Vivi to sleep by herself in the room across the hall. The place was run down, broken, and overall nasty looking, but it was the only place in the small town of Golton, so it would have to do despite the very real chance that a murder might just take place, or that the very skimpy dressed lady and the very drunk man who had a bedroom next to them would be having the time of their lives. Arthur never liked to leave Vivi alone in settings such as this, but she was better at putting up with the bad motels than both Lewis and Arthur.

He hadn't yet received a key to the room, and so he was really relying on Lewis to be awake. By the amount of time he was taking to reach the door, he might not have been lying when he said he was tired. As he raised his hand to knock twice, there was pounding as something-or someone-hit the floor, and then again as a large person nearly ran to the door.

He could feel the distress of the boy through wood.

"Arthur, thank god. What took you guys so long?" Lewis whispered as Mystery nosed his way out of the room, heading straight to Vivi's still open door. Arthur squeezed in and began to empty his pockets on the table, Lewis shadowing him like a scared puppy.

"Well we did have to explain to our client that his house was still haunted and that we didn't get rid of them since the ghosts were waiting for someone, which didn't go so well. Vivi patched it up, but we still didn't get paid. Then we picked up a quick dinner with the ten dollars Vivi took out of her wallet-we got you a super burrito, but Vivi couldn't help herself." Arthur apologized.

"It doesn't matter, I really need your advice on something." Lewis, still whispering, requested. Arthur sat down hard on the bed as it screeched under his weight.

"I'm not exactly a wise sage, you know. Vivi's the one with good life advice, I just eat Doritos all day and play video games. Are you sure you shouldn't ask her about it if it's really that important?"

Lewis, pacing around the room very quickly, began to play with his fingers to avoid eye contact, "You see, that's the thing: I can't possibly talk to Vivi about this."

Arthur gestured for his friend to sit down, "Go ahead then, let's get this over with."

"Thanks," Lewis relaxed quite a bit, sitting down at the desk against the wall, "See, when Vivi and I were in the mansion, I realized something, and I don't know how to address her about it. So, could you maybe help me out a little bit in coming up with ideas?"

Arthur's eyes grew wide, "So I was right. I can't believe this."

Lewis was terribly confused, and Arthur's reaction wasn't helping one bit in calming him down. He stood up again, more distressed than ever, "What is it?"

"It's so obvious, Scarf-Boy. I mean, the way you've been avoiding Vivi, how you tried so hard to get away when she leaned over to change the radio, how quickly you drew back when she tried to give you the wallet. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but I guess it was inevitable, huh?" Arthur's voice was quiet and breathy as he spoke mainly to himself. Lewis flinched.

"Is it really that obvious? Do you think Vivi can see it?"

Arthur nodded, "You know the girl has a killer sense of ESP. She was so worried that you were disgusted by her, and I can see why you would be. Listen, Lewis, I know what she may have told you was very stunning, but don't treat Viv like this. She didn't mean to."

Lewis, no longer terrified, was just puzzled now, "Arthur, I don't think we're talking about the same thi-"

"Just hear me out here!" Arthur lifted a hand to silence his comrade, "I mean, I found it hard to talk to her for over a week afterwards, and she had been my friend for five years! But that doesn't change who she truly is. Just be proud of the fact that she confided her deepest secret in you, and treat her like you always would."

"You are totally off, Arthur. I thought you were on the right track but, my god, you're so wrong!" Lewis, somewhat flustered, raised his voice, "She didn't tell me a secret-I'd treat her the same anyway! It's just...I realized that…"

Arthur was clueless, "What?"

Lewis inhaled deeply before nearly shouting at the top of his lungs, "I love her, Arty. I love her so fucking much."

"Oh." It was Arthur's turn to be surprised. He glanced away from Lewis, somewhat conflicted about this turn of events. How could Pinky be in love with Vivi? For his entire life, Vivi had been his: she was his only friend, his best friend, his sister, his buddy, he had so much trouble sharing her with Lewis as friends, how would that change as lovers?

Then again, Vivi needed that attention. Arthur had watched her 'adopt' him, then Mystery, and finally Lewis. She searched for lonely people and tried to make them better, craving the attention that came from it in return. She had been a lonely child; maybe she needed someone to hold her at night.

Arthur closed his eyes and breathed slowly for a moment, opening them to grab Lewis' hands quickly, "Do you remember what I told you when I taught you how to drive a stick shift, Lewis?"

The boy was puzzled again, nearly pulling back from Arthur's touch, "Not to wear out the clutch?"

Arthur shook his head, "No, about Vivi."

"Oh, yeah," He remembered, "That her finding me wasn't chance."

Arthur nodded "She chose to find you. It wasn't the stars aligning to send you to the bathroom at that exact moment, and it definitely wasn't fate or destiny-she needed you for some reason, she still does. Don't ask me how that works, I don't understand the girl fully after ten years together," Arthur confessed, dropping the large hands of his friend, "Her will is the strongest force in the universe. I told her I didn't want any new friends, no ghost hunts, I didn't even want to leave home. Next day, she finds someone I can actually get along with who loves ghosts and wants to travel with us around the world? That ain't coincidence."

Lewis scratched the back of his neck, "Your point?"

"The point is, Vivi needs you, just as much as she needs me and vice versa. Whether that's platonic or romantic is for you to find out," Arthur stood up now, walking over to the TV across from the bed, "If you don't tell her, she'll figure it out eventually, so it might as well be from your mouth, you know?"

"I guess you're right."

"So, tell her whenever you're ready. Until then," Arthur held up two video game cases, "Which one, Smash Bros. or Mario Kart? I want to take advantage of this TV, and the Gamecube is just pleading me to play it."

Lewis smiled, eagerly grabbing Mario Kart from Arthur and popping it into the already setup console, "I'm going to wreck you on Rainbow Road."

Arthur grabbed the console as the screen flipped on, the plinking of the Gamecube logo filling the room with nostalgia, "You're on, Loverboy."