Max reached over and felt the empty spot on the bed next to him. He cracked open an eye and took a peek at the time on the alarm clock.

"Seven AM. She must be getting ready for work." He thought.

Max stretched before he sat up. "Babe?" he called.

No answer.

"Fuck this morning wood. Maybe Trish will be up for a quickie before she leaves."

Max rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take a piss and brush his teeth. He didn't bother getting dressed. Max knew one look at him naked, and Trish would beg for it.

Max strolled into the kitchen where Trish was making eggs at the stove. "Damn," he said. "Nothing like a sexy woman cooking me breakfast in the morning."

Trish didn't bother to glance back as she answered, "Who said I'm making you breakfast? I have to get to work."

"I see how it is. I guess you don't have time for any of this either," Max replied as he leaned against the counter nude.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Trish asked, finally turning around and looking at him.

Trisha's bright blue eyes went wide, and she nearly dropped the frying pan. Max didn't want to brag, but when you've got it, you've got it, and he had it.

Max had never had trouble getting girls, and he put the time in on his body to warrant the occasional boasting. Not to mention, junior wasn't all that junior. And at that moment, Max was more than ready to go.

Trisha composed herself, pretending she wasn't wet as fuck for him. She cleared her throat. "Um, I—"

"So, do you really need to get to work so soon?" Max asked while he closed the gap between them.

"Max—" Trish whined.

"Come on, baby. You have time. We'll be quick." Max gazed into her eyes and gave Trish his best brown-eyed puppy dog look.

"I can't, Max. Ugh! I hate when you do this to me," Trisha complained.

"I do this a lot."

"I know!" She rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, from behind them, the flame on the stove shot into the air and set a hanging hand towel on fire. Max pulled Trish away right before her hair went up in flames.

Trish screamed and clung onto Max for dear life.

"Trish, I need to put that out before the entire apartment catches on fire." Max moved her to the side and rushed to grab the fire extinguisher.

Quickly, he pointed the nozzle at the base of the fire and swept it across, extinguishing the flames.

"What the fuck was that?" Trish screeched.

"I don't fucking know! Did you have oil on the bottom of the pan?" Max asked accusingly.

"You're blaming me? No! There wasn't any oil on the pan. It was clean and the cleaning lady cleaned the stove yesterday!"

Trish was off the deep end. She'd always been a fucking drama queen, but hell if Max didn't love her, anyway.

"Okay, baby. Calm down." Max soothingly wrapped Trish in his arms and pulled her tight to him.

"What's going on around here lately?" Trisha cried into Max's shoulder.

Max wasn't sure, but Trish was right. Something weird was happening. Strange accidents kept occurring at random.

Max's phone rang. He already knew it was Alice. She always called immediately after every one of those incidents.

Max grabbed his phone from the counter.

"Who is it?" Trish sniffled.

"Who do you think it is?" Max replied.

"Don't tell her I'm here!" Trisha panicked.

"Fuck, Trish! I'm taking you not wanting my sister to know about us, personally. What the hell?" Max released Trish and walked to the bedroom, tossing his phone on the bed before he put on clothes.

"Max! It's not like that—" Trish curled her arms around Max's waist from behind.

"Then how is it?" Max replied as he turned around. "We've been fucking for almost a year now. For the past four months, you've been here at my apartment more than your own. But every time I want to admit to my sister we're together, you freak out! She knows, you know. She's a fucking psychic-telepath. And even if she wasn't, she has fucking eyes, and she's not an idiot."

"It's just weird, Max."

"That's the lamest damn excuse I've ever heard." Max stomped away from Trish and grabbed his shoes.

"Please, Max! I love you," Trisha whimpered.

Max sighed before he took a seat on the bed. "I love you too, Trish. I consider you my girlfriend, even if you don't consider me your boyfriend. I still want you to move in with me. You're here all the damn time, anyway. You're starting to hurt my feelings. I'm not sure how much more of your rejection I can take. I'm tired of being your dirty little secret."

Trisha's sobs got louder, but Max didn't comfort her. He was sick of the way Trish treated him like he wasn't worthy of claiming publicly.

"I'm scared, Max," Trish confessed between sobs. "You've always been such a player in the past."

"Nice! Thanks for judging me based on my past. I've only ever been a gentleman with you and treated you like the princess you think you are. I haven't even looked at another girl since we started fucking, because it's always been you, Trish. I've loved you throughout high school and every day after. I guess I'm just a fucking fool, aren't I? Perhaps this is karma for how I've treated girls in the past." That's what made the most sense to him because Trisha's excuses didn't.

"I'm sorry, Max." Trish walked over and sat beside Max. She leaned her head against Max's shoulder and said, "You're right. I've been unfair to you. I love you though. And despite what you think, I consider you my boyfriend."

Max turned his head to face Trish as he reached out and grasped her chin. He tilted it up to force her to look him in the eyes. "Then move in with me. I don't want anyone else. You're the only one I see. And I want everyone to know you're mine and I'm yours. Please, let's stop hiding. I love you so much, Trish. I want us to be forever."

Trisha had to realize how special she was to Max. He'd never been vulnerable with anyone else before. Max had never cracked open his chest and served his heart on a platter to anyone but her. Trisha had the power to destroy Max completely.

Trish's arms slithered around Max's neck as she pressed her soft pink lips to his. He groaned at her sweet taste.

Slowly breaking their kiss, Trish said, "Okay. I'll move in with you, and no more hiding. I've been a bitch. I just don't want Alice to hate me if we don't work out."

"Alice is more likely to hate me before hating you, Trish."

"That's not true, Max. You're so important to her. Alice loves you more than anyone. You might not think so, but she'll always have your back," Trish assured him.

Max recognized it was true. Alice sacrificed everything to save him from The Sons. She almost lost Avery, and they could have killed her. Max didn't like to think about it because he didn't feel worthy of all the risks she took. But like Alice, Max loved his sister more than anything in the world too. Even Trish. And he loved Trish so damn much it hurt.

Alice was his blood though, and no one else understood exactly what they'd endured but one another. Their bond was beyond anything he'd ever known.

Max checked the time again. "Babe, it's time for you to go or you'll be late," he said.

Trish dried her eyes and glanced at the clock. "Yeah. You're right. Talk more later?" She flashed Max a sweet half-smile that made him melt.

"Yeah, sure. Love you, princess." Max gave her a quick kiss and smiled.

"Love you too, bad boy." Trish winked and planted another quick kiss on Max's cheek in return before she stood up and grabbed her purse to leave.

"Shit. This woman will be the end of me." But Max couldn't help a chuckle as Trish walked out the door.

"That was intense," a disembodied voice said.

The room grew cold as Max's current client materialized.

"Yeah—love makes you crazy. What can I say?" Max replied.

"You don't have to tell me. That's how I ended up where I am now," Gary, the ghost, reminded him.

Gary joined the living impaired when his girlfriend's stalker took him out of the picture. Permanently. She was pregnant at the time with his son.

"I'm surprised you didn't interrupt," Max commented.

Gary's transparent figure settled on a chair in the living room and Max joined him, taking a seat on the couch.

"Last time I interrupted you, you ignored me for a month," Gary replied.

"Well, you guys need to respect my boundaries if you want my help. That's the deal."

Max realized it seemed crazy. Him. Helping spirits with their unfinished business instead of trying to block it all out with drugs and booze. After what The Order did to help save him, Max recognized he had to stop being such a selfish prick. Plus, he had to be a better man for Trish, and a better brother to Al. They deserve that much, especially Al.

"It's a fair request. We just get carried away sometimes. Being stuck isn't easy. Have you found the money?" Gary asked.

Max strolled over to his desk and pulled out a huge manila envelope filled with cash. He returned to his chair and sat as he held it up for Gary to see.

"You found it! Sonofabitch! I thought you'd never find it!" The lights in the apartment flickered with Gary's excitement.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't easy."

That would be an understatement. It took almost six months to figure out where Gary had hidden the money. Ghosts don't have the clearest of memories. That's what made helping them crossover a challenge. The Visitors, Al and Max coined them that as kids because of their tendency to pop in and out, are often fuzzy on details.

"Where did you find it?" Gary floated closer to Max and caused Max to shiver.

"Near the base of a tree about five miles from where you thought it was. I only dug up half the forest preserve to find it."

"Hm, but it was in that forest preserve near a tree. I was right about that detail!" Gary replied with excitement.

"That's beside the point, Gary. Had you stuck the money in the bank, you'd already be off to whatever the afterlife has in store for you. Instead, you're stuck in the 'In-between'."

In life, Gary had been a bit of a conspiracy nut. So, when he hit a decent-sized lottery jackpot, he quietly squirreled away the seven-hundred and fifty grand in a hole in the ground. Gary met his girlfriend after that, and only pulled out a little here and there, never letting her learn he was almost a millionaire. When he died, Gary left his girlfriend to raise their son. All alone and with no money. She'd been struggling for the past four years. Gary took to haunting her.

"Yeah, well, you live, die, and learn. I guess." Gary's spectral shoulders went up and down in a shrug.

"I guess. I'll try to head over to her apartment today. Hopefully, she opens the door for me and believes what I have to tell her without calling the cops on me," Max replied, unsure if his plan would work.

Hell, Max would think himself crazy if he showed up on his doorstep spouting off about ghosts and money.

"She will. She has too. It's the only way I can move on. Plus, she needs that money. She'd be a fool not to listen to the person offering her six-hundred grand."

"Seven-hundred," Max reminded him.

"Nope. Had it right the first time. I want you to keep a hundred grand for yourself. You deserve it for all the work you put in. I wish I could shake your hand and give you a hug to show you how grateful I am. But seeing as I can't do that, the money will have to do." A ghostly smile spread across Gary's face.

It was only a little creepy.

"I can't do that. Your girl and kid need it more than I do." Max politely declined Gary's offer.

"How long can you keep this up without a job?" Gary asked.

"Well, according to my last bank statement, not much longer. Unless I want to have no savings, and I can't be entirely broke. Now that Trish has agreed to move in with me, I need to be more like you and save money with my future in mind."

The two-hundred grand Max still had in his savings seemed like a lot, but it wouldn't last long if he kept living off of it. Weddings, houses, families, all those things were expensive. What Max had wouldn't go far to cover that.

"Take it. Consider it a donation to the cause. So you can continue to help us cross over. Quit touching your savings and live off what I'm giving you for the next few years. It should be enough for that. Right?"

"I can't, man." Max sighed.

"Max! Just take it or I'll haunt you," Gary insisted.

"Fine!" Max rolled his eyes. "But it doesn't feel good taking money from a dead guy. Especially when it could be better used by your lady."

"She'll have plenty to live more than comfortably. If she's smart with it, she'll barely have to work anymore," Gary assured Max.

"Okay. Whatever. Look, I ignored my sister's call earlier. Buzz off so I can call her back. You'll give me pneumonia. It's fucking freezing in here."

"Okay. I'll see you later, anyway. Sally gets off work and is home by seven. Come by then," Gary replied as he slowly vanished.

The room immediately grew warmer. Max walked to the kitchen and surveyed the mess.

"Maybe there's a gas leak? I better call the superintendent. But not before I call Lupe to come clean up this mess."

That's exactly why Max was blowing through money so fast. A housekeeper, even once a week, was expensive. But to hell if he would clean up the mess on his own.

Max called Lupe, and she agreed to go by to re-clean the stove and mess from the mini fire. Max opened all the windows to get rid of the smell of smoke before he called the super who promised he would stop by to check the damages and for any gas leaks.

While Max made the other calls, an idea dawned on him. One that only made the need to call Alice back, even greater. He'd head to the coffee shop down the block and call Alice from there. Max hadn't eaten breakfast, and the place reeked of smoke.

A/N: Chapter Two will be posted in a week. Leave your thoughts in the comments and please vote, share, and add to your library and lists.