A/N: Not sure if it really counts toward the prompt since I forced the word "ghost" and the word "haunted" in here. This story doesn't really have anything to do with ghosts. :)

"Colin!" Penelope exclaimed over the video call as soon as Colin answered it. He was a little surprised at her vehemence. "Do you have a few minutes to listen to me complain?"

Thinking of the brunch he was supposed to join in - blast, he was already late. It's fine. If he had to pick between the group of people he was traveling with through the Swiss Alps and Penelope, she'd win every time. "For you? Always."

He subtly texted the group to let them know that he wouldn't make it to brunch.

"Thank you. Remember Cressida Cowper?"

"The bitch who used to tease you in secondary?"

"Don't use the word 'bitch,' but yes." She admitted.

He gave her a fond look. "You're right. Sorry, Pen."

"Okay, she's doing the wildest thing. She's reverse weight loss MLM-ing." Penelope looked frustrated.

"Wait. What does that mean? Is she in an MLM to help people gain weight?" He was so confused. He knew there was a market for it, but why would Penelope be so pissed off about it?

"No! That would at least make sense. She's joined an MLM and is hocking weight loss supplements." Penelope ran a hand through her hair.

"I mean from what I remember she's tiny, so I guess that makes sense?" Colin was so lost.

"No, you don't get it. She's created a separate account from her main. And, she created 'before' and 'after' pictures that are edited! There is no way she ever looked like those 'before' pictures. I've known her forever, unfortunately."

"What's the new account?" Colin felt Penelope might be being overly judgemental. Maybe Cressida had gained and lost a significant amount of weight.

"I already sent it to you in the app."

"Okay, hold on." He navigated to his messages and clicked on the account. "Oh wow."

If anything, Penelope was underreacting. The 'before' pictures were quite extensively edited.

"I know! And, wait until you read the captions. She's claiming the weight loss helped her slim down in her lips and nose. That is not how weight loss works!" Penelope was incensed. Why does this feel so personal?

He went to Cressida's main account. Clicking through her Stories, he couldn't stop laughing.

"What?" Penelope asked.

"She hasn't posted anything about it on her Feed, but her Stories are clarifying that it isn't someone pretending to be her. She claims her account has not been hacked and that the photos weren't stolen. Clearly, no one believes her. She had to put up multiple stories proving that it wasn't a scam. Though, any MLM is basically a scam." Colin thought Penelope would get a kick out of that.

"Okay, I love and hate that. I love that she is forced to defend this farce on main, but I hate that someone cares about her enough to warn her of a potential scammer."

"So, how did you find out about it?" Colin asked. He doubted she still followed Cressida's main account if Penelope ever had in the first place.

Penelope's face visibly deflated on the video. "She followed me from her new account and messaged me. Apparently, the MLM product can help 'even me.'" Penelope used a mocking tone at the end.

Oh yikes. He'd have to shake her out of that terrible mindset. She was perfect just the way she was. "Pen, permission to use the 'B' word?"

Penelope immediately laughed. "Denied."

"Shoot." He smiled at her. "But, seriously, you know that you're perfect exactly how you are, right?"

"I know," she sighed. "It just sucks that she can still get to me even as an adult."

"Can we report the account? I know the platform isn't great. We should still try to do something though." He said.

"Maybe, let me see." She bit her tongue. Penelope was too cute.

"Wait! Please share your screen. I'll do it too, so it'll help to follow exactly what you're doing."

It took them a few minutes to figure out how to report the new account. In the end, they had each submitted a claim against the account for promoting a scam - definitely against its Terms of Service.

Colin was so thankful Penelope had called him. He missed her. As they were talking, he realized that he had really missed her. Why was he in the Swiss Alps, again?

It was time to go home.

Sure, he missed his family as well. When he went to bed, it was red curls and yellow dresses that haunted his dreams though.

"Pen," he said suddenly.

"Col," she replied, mockingly. The corner of her mouth ticked up in amusement.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"At some point, I'm supposed to go see a movie with El."

"In that case, can you pick me up from the airport?" His view suddenly went wild. Then it went dark as he heard a thump. "Did you just drop your phone?"

"Of course, I did!" She huffed. The view's motion was quick and almost made him dizzy. Then he could see her again. "You have been gone for three years, and suddenly you're coming home! I can't believe no one told me."

"No one else knows. You're the first person I've told."

Penelope raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you booked your flight or are you planning to ghost me?"

"Neither." He dimpled at her. "I'll work out the logistics and send you the details."

"I'll believe it when I see it." She scoffed.

At the weekend, she was waiting at Heathrow for him.

Of course, she made him a 'Welcome home' sign. The image of her struck him in a yellow sundress. He couldn't stop himself from walking up to her and grabbing her cheeks. His eyes looked into hers searchingly. She gave a brief nod. He smiled and kissed her.

Pulling back slightly, she blinked up at him in confusion. "Wha-what was that?"

He stepped up to her and moved his hands from her cheeks to wrap around her lower back. Pulling her to him, he said, "I hope that's the start of our relationship. I would call you my girlfriend, and you would call me a different kind of 'B' word." He tried to be confident, but his eyes were darting back and forth between hers nervously.

"Where is this coming from? I thought you didn't like me." Penelope raised her hands to rest on his shoulders. Her sign and his bags were abandoned on the ground around them.

"I don't know where you got that from. I may have been in love with you the entire time I've known you. I only just pieced it together." He dipped his head for another kiss.

It was a searing kiss. When she pulled back again, his arms were slack around her and he blinked. Dazed, he barely caught her "I love you, too."

Then she stepped back, picked up the sign, and walked toward the car. Colin was dazed by their kiss and her admission of love. Blinking, he realized she wasn't in front of him anymore.

Scrambling, he picked up his bags. "Pen, wait for me!" He chased after her.

Once he caught up to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Then he made a promise to himself that he'd always follow her wherever she led.

The End.

A/N: This is inspired by someone I know who did this on Instagram. SMH. Stay safe out there from MLMs (aka multilevel marketing, aka pyramid schemes). For more information, check out Jon Oliver's segment on it, just remove the spaces and parentheses: (youtube . com) / watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI&ab_channel=LastWeekTonight