Chapter Summary: Casper is bothered by the events of the night before, and this time is determined to do... something- even if Casper doesn't fully understand his own motives.

The next day was oddly normal and it was driving Casper insane.

Everyone had woken up, like normal.

Everyone got ready, like normal.

Nothing was said about the badge placed back on his bed, like normal.

All the classes were boring, like normal.

And Thatch was bullying other students, like normal!

Mantha hadn't brought up anything from that morning, and neither had Ra. They were just doing their everyday thing like nothing happened last night. By lunchtime, Casper was impatient and much to his own dislike, a bit angry. So when Ra, Mantha, and himself sat down- alone for the first time that day he almost immediately brought it up.

"About last night," He started calmly, looking up from the gross looking food that was served.

"Oh right, Mantha did you know?" Ra lightly chuckled, poking at his rather gross looking lunch, watching as it wiggled and growl. The mummy turned hopefully to the zombie who nodded.

"Well yeah. The answer is it's completely fine for two boys to like each other..." She carefully said. "Like I said last night, not exactly normal but nothing's wrong with that," she drew out slowly, her eyes wandering around the cafeteria before they landed on Thatch, who was currently pushing Mosshead around simply for being in his way it seemed. She hated that vampire so much, what an awful bully! She scoffed and looked back to Casper. "Tell Ra." She almost ordered.

"Tell me what?" The mummy asked, contently sipping on his drink, feeling rather happy he and Casper had gotten their answer in the first place. They could always rely on Mantha to answer their questions.

"I... Well, when I asked Mantha last night she asked why while I asked..." Casper carefully spoke, watching Thatch in a much different light than Mantha. When he was watching, Mosshead had spilled something onto Thatch's cloak while carrying his tray, and Thatch was very angry about it, then fussing over his cape as he used several napkins to try to remove the gross school food so it won't stain- after he, of course, pushed Mosshead for doing it in the first place. "... And to be truthful, I really don't know an exact answer, but I asked the question with... him in mind." Casper couldn't exactly bring himself to utter Thatch's name, but Ra understood by simply following the other's gaze.

Ra admittedly made a face, his nose scrunched up in distaste. "Him? That's why you asked? I don't get it..." He muttered. Casper shrugged and looked away from the vampire, instead feeling rather guilty as he watched Mantha and Ra.

"Casper, can you explain last night at all?" Mantha started simply, knowing this could have only happened after the fight. Everything had been perfectly normal the day before. She just couldn't understand what would make Casper see Thatch in a positive way simply because there was nothing positive about that awful bully.

"Well, I can't explain," Casper said, wanting to avoid the topic. But the gazes from his friends were peer pressure enough to talk. "Okay, so... I followed him when he snuck out of the school and when he was alone he was just... Well I dunno, he was just peaceful? He wasn't acting all big and bad, he was just taking a stroll and relaxing? It made him seem nicer- more human?"

"More human?" Ra laughed, setting his drink down. "Thatch is nothing like a human. I doubt he could ever be like a human!"

"But he was a human once, and he still looks like a human." Casper defended.

The trio looked back over at Thatch- who by now was settled at his normal table with his friends. Mosshead was sitting beside Thatch even, though he was much more careful with his food now, not wishing to anger the vampire again.

"I mean- well geez. I guess I never thought about Thatch being human." Ra admitted with a sigh. "All vampires had to be human at some point in their lives, right?" Ra poked at his lunch again, no longer seeming hungry. "I wonder what he was like when he was human."

"I bet he was a bully then too," Mantha said coldly.

"Oh come on, I don't think he was like this his whole life..." Ra pondered. "Now that you mention it, Casper, I am curious..."

"See, I knew I couldn't be the only one!" Casper felt relief to have at least one of his friends on his side, to understand what he was thinking and to work through his problems. Mantha seemed slower to be understanding, but she was coming around to the thought that maybe Thatch wasn't always such a big bully, even if she still didn't seem pleased.

"I doubt he could ever be peaceful like you described, besides what does this all matter? He hates us anyways." She grumbled, eating, unlike the two boys.

"True, very true. So Casper what's your plan?"

"Plan? What plan?" He quickly asked, looking at the mummy. "I have no plan, it was just... I dunno..." He muttered, quickly coming up with something on the spot. "I guess if I need to have a plan is... If he sneaks out tonight I'll follow him?"

"And?"

"Maybe... Maybe I'll try to talk to him?" He weakly offered. Mantha seemed content with that, though she tried not to show she was worried for the ghost child.

"Let's just hope he doesn't bite you," Ra muttered.

"Last time he did that Thatch bit his own tongue. Thatch can't hurt Casper. Hell, I bet Casper can get away with anything he wants if he actually acts like a ghost." Mantha remarked, reminding Casper's of Thatch's own words. It kinda hurt to hear Mantha say that, but it was true. He never acted like a 'real' ghost, but of course, neither did his family. They were all rather shapeless compared to other ghosts, who actually looked like humans. Casper watched dozens of human movies with Jimmy over the summer, and they always had the ghost in human form doing such awful and scary things. Casper supposed that was the norm for their kind.

The ghostly trio had always said the ghosts in the movies had their humans forms because those ghosts remembered what they looked like while alive. If a ghost forgot what they once looked like they had no form to take- which is why Casper looked like a sweet little marshmallow with very little shape- only a basic human figure.

"I guess we'll see what happens tonight... Knock 'em dead." Ra grinned, but it only made Casper's heart sink more. He was going to be in for a long night...

That night, when it was past curfew and everyone was in bed Casper laid restless, keeping his eyes closed but listening carefully. As the sound of soft, even breathing filled the room he carefully cracked his eyes open, peering around. He did a head count, assuring everyone was fast asleep. Now, he just had to see if Thatch snuck out nightly or if it was just a random occurrence.

The wait felt unbearable. It dragged out for what seemed like forever and it was maddening, but after an eternity, Casper caught sight of Thatch's coffin lid slowly opening. The vampire peered out and the ghost boy shut his eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. He listened, hearing the sound of Thatch climbing out, the shutting of the lid, then the footsteps leaving the dorm- and once again a peaceful silence filled the room.

Casper quickly turned invisible and followed Thatch as he did the night before, watching the vampire take the same route to get outside once more. Casper smiled and closely followed, floating just above the ground. This time traveling to the forest seemed more calming than the night before, and he didn't feel the pull to return back to bed. The ground was a bit moist, it had rained while they were in class. But the sky was clear tonight, the clouds having rained until they were nothing.

As Thatch walked into the forest Casper smiled and kept close- ducking behind trees even if there was no real need to. He just really didn't want to get caught yet. He was afraid if he showed himself Thatch would return to being a big fat jerk!

It was so much nicer like this. Thatch's hair wasn't all slicked back, his gaze was calmer and his shoulders were slumped down. It was almost like he was a whole different vampire. Someone who could relax and enjoy the chilled air and the welcoming moonlight.

Under the trees, the ground was drier which allowed Thatch to sit down and not get his clothes all dirty. Casper smiled and watched the vampire contently. The violet-eyed student sighed as he stretched and smiled, pulling something from the inside of his cape. Casper recognized it as the thing- whatever it was that had been under Thatch's pillow back in his coffin.

The ghost boy carefully floated over, keeping his hands close to his chest as he peered at the object, and to his confusion, he saw... a family photo.

A mother was smiling and in her arms, she held a bundle of blankets- and in which laid a small baby. Her black hair was pulled back tightly into a bun, out of her face and away from the baby's grasp- for good reasons any parent would know. The father was smiling proudly, his arm wrapped around his wife. His white hair was gelled back- in a similar fashion to what Thatch does nowadays. The picture was terribly old, black and white and age has gotten to it with the corners being ripped and fading.

They wore old clothes from what Casper could tell. The father in a nice, tailored suit with a cloak, and the mother a nice victorian dress with fine jewelry and the like. They all seemed so happy and close, big smiles on their faces. The baby boy seemed to be fast asleep in the picture, clutching onto the blankets. But the more Casper looked, the more he realized it wasn't a picture, at least originally. It was a picture of a painting, he could just see the frame within the photograph.

Thatch softly sighed, looking at the picture with a smile. His eyes seemed to linger on the man, and his expression turned to something Casper never seen on the vampire, a deep look of mourning, unresolved and left to fester like a disease. There was an array of emotions in those violet eyes, from hate to something to the look of a lost, confused child with no one to look up to.

The vampire turned his gaze from the picture and instead looked up at the sky, his lip trembling as he tried to keep the tears that were building up. "Happy Turning Day... and Death Day, dad..." He softly muttered as he gazed up at the sky. When the tears started to fall he swiftly unclasped his cape and stood up, walking away from it so none of his acid tears touched it. He moved away, softly sobbing in the ever so silent forest. He didn't bother to cover his eyes or hide it, he was supposed to be alone in the eerily silent forest and he rather not ruin his clothes, lest everyone would have a chance of finding out.

Casper worriedly watched, reaching out for a moment before he remembered he couldn't be seen anyways. The ghost wanted to hug the vampire- and he was probably the only one that could without getting burned by those horrid acid tears. He watched the vampire cry, leaning against a tree, his palms pressed to the bark so the tears just flowed off his face and didn't burn any holes in his clothes, instead the tears sizzled loudly as they touched the ground. To see Thatch cry was a rare and dangerous sight- vampires were scary no matter what their emotions seemed to be.

After a few moments, Casper decided he needed to be brave. He let his feet touch the ground and be became visible. He then cleared his throat, causing a start from the vampire- but Thatch didn't look his way, as if he was now just trying to hide his face. He turned his back more, trying to use his hands to dry his eyes.

"Go away! I'll bite you!" He hissed dangerously. This threat felt truly hollow- the vampire was in no position to fight.

"There's no need to yell, we don't want to get caught." Casper gingerly reminded. Upon hearing the actual voice Thatch turned around slightly, his eyes landing on the ghost.

"YOU." He hissed. "Just go away you stupid ghost, no one wants you around." He said coldly.

"I can't leave."

"Well, why not?"

"You're crying. I can't leave someone crying alone in the woods." He carefully spoke, trying to keep things calm. He would admit he was sad that Thatch was being so hostile, but it was only natural for the vampire to be so. Casper walked over, his blue eyes intensely watching the crying vampire. "The best way to stop tears is to hug it out." He offered. Thatch recoiled in disgust.

"Get away! I don't need no stupid hug, I'll bite you!" He threatened once more, his threats repeating himself as he moved away, more desperate for space than anything. He kept rubbing his eyes, trying to stop the acid tears.

"You can't bite me, and it's fine to just... cry and let it out? I won't get hurt, and it's ok to just try it. If you really hate it you can never do it again." Casper insisted, holding his arms out towards the vampire, smiling kindly. "Come on, Thatch."

"This is dumb..." Thatch grumbled, his eyes narrowed in distrust. The ghost was stubborn, keeping his arms wide and welcoming. Silent, intense moments passed and Thatch started to fidget awkwardly, trying to look anywhere besides the ghost before the silence seemed to get to him. He hissed angrily, and slowly he started to walk over to Casper. "You'll tell the whole school, this is some sort of prank. I bet Martha and Ra are watching with a camera or something."

"No no," Casper said quickly, "It's just us out here. Only us, you can even look around but... what happens here can be a secret. Us sneaking out of bed, the picture, the hug I'll keep it all a secret... I'm good at that." He wanted to reassure the vampire it was all ok, and in Thatch's weak state he seemed to be caving in.

The vampire awkwardly moved, sniffling softly as fresh tears still flowed down. Casper was all too used to hugging and moved closer to Thatch, letting his arms wrap around the vampire's torso as he pulled his partly see-through body close to the vampire's. Casper could feel the tears simply fall through him as if they were nothing, but he kept tangible only to Thatch himself, keeping him nice and close.

Thatch still felt awkward, unsure of where to put his arms, so Casper simply guided Thatch to have them around him, then hovered up off the ground so their heights worked better together. Thatch allowed his head to rest on the ghost boy's shoulder, softly sniffling as he tried to calm himself.

Casper didn't feel the need to talk, and instead, let Thatch slowly adjust to the hug and calm himself. The vampire seemed to soak up the affection faster than the ghost thought. Thatch had changed ever so swiftly in the span of a minute. He had all but melted into the hug, hiding his face in the crook of the ghost's neck, shutting his eyes tightly. His grip tightened on Casper, pulling the smaller male close. It seemed to be working as Casper noted the waterworks had stopped and Thatch had calmed down.

"I don't get it..." Thatch spoke after a while, but his grip on the ghost did not loosen. The vampire was soaking up the affection like a dying man in the desert would guzzle down water.

"What don't you get?" Casper kindly asked, nuzzling closer to Thatch like a small kitten, gently smiling. From being so close he could take in more of Thatch. Without that oversized cowl Thatch wore he seemed much smaller, and without the flowing dark cloak that was attached, he didn't seem nearly as scary. Thatch also had a certain scent- it was odd and hard to define. Casper couldn't put his finger on what exactly the scent was, but he had never noticed it before when he was around Thatch- course they had never really been this close.

"... I don't get why you're out here and why this is happening..." The vampire muttered. "Did you follow me? For how long?" He decided to start with.

Casper nodded and softly sighed. "I noticed last night you left, and so I followed you then... And I waited for you to leave tonight. I really don't know why so don't ask more about that... I just felt the need to, and I'm glad I did... Thatch, why are you out here all alone?" It was Casper's turn to ask questions.

"Why I'm out here?" Thatch repeated simply. He shifted and at first Casper thought he was letting go so he started to do so, but Thatch then only held onto him tighter, keeping the ghost boy close. "I wanted some fresh air, it's hard to sleep at night... Vampires are supposed to sleep during the day, not night; I mean duh, we're nocturnal monsters. I know not a lot of monsters in this school are nocturnal, so being one of the few that is is terribly troublesome."

"That's not the answer I wanted. What are you doing out HERE, in the forest?" He pressed for answers.

"... The forest reminds me of home." Thatch sighed. "My family lives in this castle hidden in the woods, far far away from here." He glanced off. "It's peaceful there, a simple life. The nearby town is enough for us to survive on without worry of ever starving, and with us living so deep in the forest. My mom and I are happy there."

"... Just your mom and you?" Casper asked carefully. Thatch didn't seem to want to answer that in the slightest because he pulled back, and Casper quickly shook his head. "Wait never mind, I won't ask." He corrected himself- besides it was the vampire's turn to ask a question.

Thatch sighed, and seeming content with there being no pressure to answer continued to hold onto the ghost, though his eyes kept nervously darting around the woods, waiting for Ra to pop out with a camera. But such a thing never happened.

"Ok, you said you followed me out here just because... But why are we hugging?" Thatch grumbled, but he wasn't letting go so Casper rolled his eyes and smiled. What a fussy vampire- it was actually cute.

"Because it looked like you needed one. You were crying- and unlike anyone else, in this school, I can actually hug you." He contently answered. That seemed like a reasonable enough answer and Thatch seemed to just accept it, nodding in understanding. It was then Thatch let Casper go since he was no longer crying. He turned away, seeming unsure of what to do with the ghost.

Casper could still tell the vampire needed to hug more or soak up any sort of affection, the way his eyes kept darting back- but instead, Thatch turned away and returned back to the tree where he picked up his discarded cloak. He dusted it off and put it back on, carefully closing the bat clasp before he sat down and pulled the photo back out.

Casper walked over to the vampire's side and sat down beside him- and Thatch didn't recoil or seem to mind. Casper could see Thatch tilt the picture away, wanting to hide it from the ghost- but it didn't matter because Casper had already seen it.

"My turn... What's that picture?" He asked.

Thatch chuckled lightly, and after a moment turned it back so Casper could see it again. "It's my family... This is right after I was born, mom was so happy. See she was worried she lost me..."

"Why?" Casper carefully asked.

"Well... My dad turned into a vampire so he also turned my mom so they would always be together, but the thing is she was still pregnant with me. They were scared I wouldn't survive the pregnancy or if I was already dead due to my mom's turning... But I was born as a living vampire... I guess you don't know what that means." He sighed and Casper only nodded. "Figured, it's not exactly common. A living vampire happens when... well, what happened to me really, no other way to do it honestly. The mother has to be turned while carrying a child. We living vampires can walk out in sunlight without getting burned, and our tears are acid, unlike normal vampires. Other than that we're very similar, exact we don't just drink blood, we can drink almost anything and eat normal food- though we don't exactly get enough nutrition from such things. Blood is our life source so I still have to rely on that." He explained simply.

"... I see..." Well, that explained an awful lot, and Casper was feeling a bit better to be learning more about Thatch. Many of his questions were being answered this night! Casper gently smiled and chuckled. "Ok, your turn." He playfully nudged Thatch. The vampire seemed confused, but then he smiled a big toothy grin.

"So that's what we're doing? Ok fine." He laughed. "Ok let me think.." He sighed and leaned back against the tree. "So... You know a bit about my life... Tell me... Gah, got to phrase this as a question. What was your human life like?" He asked in return.

Casper sat still and couldn't really bring himself to look at Thatch. He kept looking around the empty forest, trying for the millionth time to remember, but as always nothing came. "I don't know..."

"You what?"

"I don't know Thatch... I have no memory of my human life. All I remember is waking up and being a ghost- that's where my life started. I only remember a few small things..." He softly muttered. "I... I remember it was winter, so long ago," Casper started, staring far off into the dark forest. "It was freezing out but I was having so much fun out in the snow. I stayed out until it got dark, and then I started to get cold... All I know is I got sick..." He muttered. Thatch intensely watched the ghost before he nodded.

"I see... your turn." He nudged Casper, trying to keep the air nice and cheery as the ghost boy had made it before.

Casper smiled and looked back to Thatch instead of the dark forest. "Ok well... Why do you care about your cloak so much? I saw you flip out on Mosshead today over it." Casper knew he struck a sour chord when Thatch made the same expression he had when gazing at that photo, but after a moment his expression relaxed and he nodded, accepting the question. It was only fair- he asked Casper a personal question and Casper asked one back.

"I have two cloaks, one I wear when we go out into town or are doing something messy in classes, and then my favorite cloak... No one can ever tell the difference thankfully but today I wore my favorite cloak, it's a special day today so..." He made a motion to the article of clothing that was draped across his shoulders. "It's... It belonged to my dad. My mom was careful and trimmed down the long cloak so it fit me instead, so I can always keep a piece of him with me... I miss him..." Thatch softly admitted, fiddling around with his cloak nervously.

Casper watched the vampire, his eyes scanning the cloak. That could explain why the cowl was so large- far too large for a child. "It looks good on you." Casper complemented. Thatch glanced at Casper, a faint smile gracing his lips.

"Tonight will be kept a secret, promise?"

"Under one condition..." Casper started, then quickly finished before Thatch could worry. "We do this more often- tomorrow night even... You can keep bullying me in the day if you want but... At nighttime, I want to do this again."

"... Alright." Thatch agreed. "We should head back before we get caught, come on marshmallow boy." He grinned and stood up, offering his hand to Casper.