I hear my name, from nowhere. It is not verbal. It is only in my ears, or perhaps my mind. However it comes to me, I’m aware of it.

I am being summoned.

I sense the opening of some invisible passageway. I have the feeling that I could go through, if I wanted. When I was summoned as an incorporeal, I was wrenched into movement, as if by unseen hands - or I could not go, as if the hands found me too faint to grasp fully.

Now, though. I do believe I have the option.

I’m still adjusting to being seen and heard, but my curiosity takes me over, and I am tempted to answer the summons. How do I do it?

Kasey told me that Ghost 101 is: you just know. So I do what feels natural.

I test out closing my eyes, leaning into this unseen passageway I sense before me. I step forward, and when I open my eyes again, I am no longer in the empty lot on Benton Street.

I am standing on an open-air, second-floor porch, at the top of a stairway. A set of sliding glass doors are before me, closed. It takes me a moment to orient myself, but I do recognize the place. This is where Aiden lives.

Aiden is not here, but Jamie is seated at a small glass table, wearing his jacket, his feet up on the unoccupied chair. He’s leaning over to speak to someone - Kasey, who is perched on the porch railing.

They do not see me. I am invisible.

“Well, worth a try,” Jamie is saying. “I guess he didn’t want to come tonight?”

“It’s okay,” Kasey answers. “He’ll come when he’s ready.”

The warmth within me had already begun to blossom at the sight of her, but to hear her say this, with no bitterness, no impatience - it sweetens everything. I am glad to be invisible, so she cannot see the look on my face.

“At least we don’t urgently need him for anything.” Jamie sits back in his seat, and yawns deeply. His breath mists in the cold, curling up over his copper hair. “I mean, we’re just hanging out, right? He’s not missing much.”

“Yeah." Kasey nods, nibbling her lip. "Maybe I should tell him that he’s fine to hang out with us when he’s invisible, too.”

“Can’t hurt."

“Why are we still waiting out here, by the way? Where’s Aiden? Working late?”

“No, he’s in there.” Jamie gestures at the sliding glass doors. “He does a weekly video chat meeting with someone from his sobriety group in Berlin. It’s running long tonight. We could probably go inside, but I don’t want to interrupt, or make him think he needs to cut it short, or whatever.”

“Every week?” Kasey stares at Jamie. “Damn. No skips, huh?”

“He said, ‘skip a week, leaves you weak’. Sobriety saying, maybe. But he also says that about going to the gym, so I don’t know.”

Kasey flexes her feet, leaning back on the railing in a way that would be dangerous to someone with a body that could be injured.

“Well, that’s some serious fucking dedication,” she says. “Good for Aiden.”

The sliding glass door clicks softly open. Aiden steps outside, frowning, his blue eyes troubled. He slips a pair of reading glasses onto his nose, then reaches for Jamie, who immediately springs to his feet and goes to him.

“Hi,” Jamie says brightly, twining his arms around Aiden’s waist. “How was Eric?”

“He’s… having a hard time, this week.” Aiden winces. “Someone from the program - someone he’s close with - she relapsed.”

“Oh, no.” Jamie’s smile falters, and vanishes. He gives Aiden a squeeze, concern in his eyes. “Is that - are you-?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for checking.” Aiden bows his head, kisses the top of Jamie’s. “It’s just hard to hear. Especially because - when someone relapses, people tend to get pissed off at them, or be disappointed in them, or think that they’re not taking their recovery seriously, and it’s just like… nobody realizes how hard they’re trying. How you can be trying your hardest, and still...”

He fades into silence.

Kasey’s expression softens. She leaps down from the railing, smoothing out her billowing red pants.

“Is there anything we can do, Aiden? I mean - for you, right now?”

“Yeah, we’re down for whatever,” Jamie says earnestly, tilting his head back to look up at Aiden.

“I…” Aiden stops, hesitating over his answer. The silence goes on so long that I expect someone to ask him again, but Jamie and Kasey seem used to this, and they wait until he speaks. “I talked it through with Eric, and now I just - honestly, I really don’t want to think about it anymore. Could use some distraction.”

I understand what’s going on here. What Aiden speaks of is no new thing.

I'm his friend, too, and he needs distraction. As a two-hundred-year-old ghost, I am, if anything, overqualified to assist with that.

I take a deep breath, and let myself come into visibility.

Kasey spots me first. She makes a soft, surprised sound, which causes both Jamie and Aiden to turn. Their eyes widen when they see me.

My form wavers. I have only the most fragile grasp on it, with three pairs of eyes on me at once, but I don’t let it go. Though I am flickering and transparent, I remain.

“Hey, Will!” Kasey says excitedly, and then, to Aiden and Jamie - “Don’t stare at him like that, dummies! Small steps, remember?”

Aiden blinks and looks up over my head, while Jamie covers his eyes with his hands.

“How’s that for a distraction, Aiden?” he mutters, and Aiden lets out a quiet, airy laugh.

“Yeah, that’ll do it.”

At the same time, Jamie peeks over the tops of his fingers, and Aiden’s gaze drops back down to my face.

“Hey, man,” Jamie says, with a friendly wave. “Did you hear us summon you?”

“Good evening.” Even one instance of speaking with Kasey has helped me tremendously, and I’m pleased to discover that I sound not quite so timid as I did before. “Yes, I received your summons, but I had intended to visit soon, regardless. Ms. Lavoe - Kasey, I mean - she told me that it was your birthday recently, Aiden.” I manage to look him in the eyes, and flash him a quick smile. “Many happy returns.”

“Oh.” Aiden smiles back, surprised. “Thanks, dude. You’ll have to come to the party, next year.”

“Holy shit!” Jamie whips around to look at Aiden, his mouth dropping open. “You’re giving me permission to throw another party? A year in advance? Oh, my fucking god. Someone write it down, and please note the date, too-”

“Alright, enough.” Aiden covers Jamie’s mouth with his hand, then turns back to me. “So, Will - how do you like having a form, and a voice?”

“It’s lit, fam,” I answer.

There’s a split second of silence.

“Wh-?” Aiden begins, then bursts into startled laughter. Jamie does, too, as does Kasey - although hers is more like a shout of delight.

“Yes!” She giggles uncontrollably, punching a victorious fist into the air. “Perfect execution, Will, oh my god!”

“Jesus Christ!” Jamie sputters. His nose is crinkled up by his laughter, his brown eyes disbelieving. “You hang out with Kasey one time, and she’s already got you talking like this? What are you going to sound like by tomorrow?”

Kasey is out of breath from her laughter. “He’s probably going to sound like a guy I could have met at a bar in the Village.”

“Which village?” I ask, and she stops, biting her lip, smiling hugely.

“Um. Greenwich Village.” Kasey tosses her raven hair out of her face, looking at me with something like affection in her eyes. “Oh, man. I missed you.”

I stop laughing and smile at her, deeply touched. Jamie and Aiden, on the other hand, still have yet to recover. Jamie is doubled over, and Aiden is wheezing.

“Dude," he gasps. "Will. Say it again? Just one more time, please?”

“It’s lit, fam,” I say, and both of them burst into renewed laughter. Kasey grins happily, then bounds across the porch to meet me.

“Hi, cute thing.” She taps my nose, a very quick little touch that sends a zip of electricity humming through me. “I summoned you because we’re gonna watch a movie tonight, and I figured that’s something we could all do together without everyone looking at you or talking to you the whole time. We haven’t picked the movie yet, though. We’re debating between Pet Sematary and Paranormal Activity.”

“Goddamnit, not Paranormal Activity, please!” Jamie protests, scowling at Kasey. “That’s demon shit!”

“Ugh, okay, okay!” she groans, and turns back to me. “So? Are you down to watch Pet Sematary?”

A chance to be around Kasey, around my friends, in a situation where they won’t all be looking at me - this is perfect.

“Is it a good movie?” I ask.

“It’s very medium,” Jamie says.

“A ringing endorsement," I laugh. "How can I say no?”

I smile, and all three of them smile back at me.

Aiden leads the way inside, followed by Jamie. Kasey lets me go ahead. Like she wants to keep an eye on me, make sure that I’ll really stay.

Of course, I could simply disappear, if I wanted to. But the gesture is not lost on me, and it serves to ground me, hold me to my form.

Intact, I step over the threshold, invited into someone's home for the first time in two hundred years.

~~~~

There’s a bit of a bustle as Jamie and Aiden make popcorn, and two mugs of tea. Kasey kicks off her shoes, then tosses her jacket on top of them. She stretches her arms over her head. I stop behind her, watching her graceful movements, kneading my palm.

I forget sometimes that she can see me now, and she catches me looking at her before I can glance away.

A small smirk rises on her face, and an embarrassed blush rises on mine.

It had not yet occurred to me to try taking off my shoes. Can I do so, as Kasey does? As she just did? Perhaps it is polite, in someone else's home. I should at least try.

I unlace my boots, attempt to pull them off, and find that I can. I shake my head, dazed. I may be dead, but there’s so much that’s new in my life. I put my boots next to Kasey's shoes.

Aiden’s place is small and snug, but the couch is sizable, and he drops to sit with Jamie on one end, leaving the other half open. Kasey curls up there, leaving a spot for me.

For me. Specifically for me. So strange, even just this.

I move to the couch, and take my place by her side.

~~~~

I’m so happy.

I used to watch movies at the Ketterbridge Drive-In during its short-lived existence, but it’s an entirely different experience to be invited, to do this with friends. Friends who can hear you, and see you. There’s a lot of laughter. Kasey and Jamie like to jump in with snippy comments about what’s happening on the screen, which makes Aiden laugh, and me, too.

It’s cozy in here. The lights are switched off, the sliding glass doors fogged by the cold. I am enveloped in Kasey’s warmth, which I’ve never been able to appreciate so closely and for so long. I have paid only scarce attention to the movie, distracted as I am to have her this near.

But I am also distracted by Jamie and Aiden. As the movie has gone on, they have folded into each other. Aiden is lounging back with his head against Jamie’s chest, one hand sprawled comfortably on his bent knee. Jamie is sitting up, absently twirling his slender fingers through Aiden’s hair, his other hand resting on Aiden’s shoulder.

It seems nice.

I glance over at Kasey, at the several inches of space that remain between us.

If Aiden and Jamie are sitting like this, presumably that means that Kasey and I could be closer, too, and it would be appropriate. Things have changed since my day, and I’m not sure how to go about this, but I see no reason I can’t follow Aiden and Jamie’s lead.

I wonder what Kasey would do if I took her hand. She has taken mine before, on more than one occasion. Does that mean it’s alright for me to do the same?

It's nerve-wracking, but it’s easier in the dark, with her already so close to me, and her eyes on the screen.

I set my hand on the couch, next to hers. I leave it there for a minute or so. She seems not to notice.

Very slowly, I move my hand closer, until the edges of our palms come together. Kasey blinks. Her gaze flits to our hands, then to my face.

Her dark eyes ask a question. I answer by holding still, not moving my hand away.

She waits, giving me time to reconsider - then laces her fingers through mine.

My heartbeat thrums in my ears. Kasey fixes me with a glowing smile that steals my breath, then turns back to the TV, biting her lip.

Once again, I see that rosy blush rise in her cheeks.

Feeling suddenly emboldened, I give her hand a tug, pull her closer to me. Let go of her fingers, and wrap my arm around her shoulders.

Kasey stares up at me, surprise written all over her face, but - not in a bad way. She smiles again, and she is even more radiant than she was before.

She settles herself against my side, leaning into me. The warmth and pressure of her is strange at first, but again, not in a bad way.

The feeling of being this close to another person - of being this close to her - it strikes me in some deep, submerged place, so powerfully that I have to close my eyes, take a steadying breath. Part of me wants to cry, and part of me wants to break into giddy laughter. It’s dizzying.

Never again will I fail to appreciate what it means, to be able to touch.

Kasey nestles her head beneath my chin, lets out a happy sigh, and turns back to the movie. I am silent, overwhelmed, the flame in my heart threatening to melt me from within.

Over the top of Kasey’s head, I see Aiden and Jamie exchange a swift, covert grin.

It occurs to me just how scandalized my father would be, if he could see me sitting like this, with a woman most certainly not my wife - and with no shoes on! He would have been outraged.

The thought brings a gratified smile to my face.

I bend to speak into Kasey’s ear. “My father would be positively shocked, to see me sitting with a lady this way.”

She snickers quietly, then tips her head back to look up at me, the side of her face resting on my chest.

“We’re bringing dishonor to the Clarke family name,” she whispers.

“Wonderful,” I whisper back. “That was more or less my life’s goal.”

Kasey laughs, smacking the back of her hand against my stomach. We both startle at the sensation of the impact, then both begin to laugh again.

“Awfully cozy at that end of the couch, aren’t we?” Jamie asks, grinning cheekily.

“You have no room to be saying things like that,” Kasey responds, pointing to Aiden, who is still cuddled up in Jamie’s arms.

“More importantly,” Aiden says, “Can we all agree that the cat in this movie looks like Jamie when he’s forced to go more than ten minutes without caffeine?”

“Rude!” Jamie frowns indignantly, and smacks Aiden's shoulder. “Did you seriously just compare me to a fucking zombie cat? Mkay. I’m getting a new boyfriend. Will? Are you game?”

“No, he is not,” Kasey laughs.

I’m glad that she answered for me, as I can’t speak. Not right now.

It's all I can do to sit still, and let Kasey rest her head on my chest. I love the sound of her laughter, and now, with her curled up against my side, I discover that I love the feel of it, too.

What a beautiful, beautiful thing it is, to feel.