I poured myself a glass of water from the sink. It went down easily through my throat and I took another drink. My head felt slightly hot but I don't think I have a fever.

I avoid looking at one side of the room as I approached the mirror. I was warned when I was a kid that if I looked in the mirror at night a ghost would jump out and attack me. I usually try not to do it, but now I am standing in front of it, my eyes flickering back and forth between it and the wall. No, and the person standing by the wall. I can't see Tir in the mirror but I can definitely still see him.

"Are you going to talk to me?" Tir's voice sounded like I remembered. Smooth, reserved but clear. This really was Tir. No, this was Tir's ghost. Tir was still dead.

"I don't know what to say," I said lowering my eyes.

"Are you still upset?"

I jumped when I sensed him coming closer. "Don't. I am not... I am not comfortable with you getting too close to me."

"I understand." His shoulders dropped and I knew I had hurt him.

"Sorry. No one told me about this otherwise I would be reacting better. "

"It's okay. It is not every day you see ghosts."

"Wait," my face drained of color, "don't tell me I am going to be seeing other ghosts too."

He looked around my room and said, "Do you see another ghost here besides me?"

"No?" my voice rose higher and I flinched at the brush of a cold breeze, my eyes darting left and right. "Is there another ghost here with you?"

Tir's expression was dimmed and I almost started to run out of the house. "Relax, " he smiled, "I am the only ghost here right now."

"Whew, don't scare me like that, Tir."

He laughed. "Couldn't help it. I have always thought that you are too cool to get scared, Masuk"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "are you actually enjoying this?"

"No sir." That quick response was the most Tir thing he has done since I was able to see him that it made me laugh and before we knew it, we were both laughing. This was a little absurd.

I let out an exhausted sigh and flopped on the bed. "This is really happening. I am seeing you."

Tir came over and crouched on the other side. "Are you still scared?"

I took in his face for the first time. Tir was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing when he died, the same hairstyle and his face was still as good looking as before. His skin color though was the only thing that was different. He was paler and looked as if he would fade away in an instant. My heart skipped and I shook my head.
"Not of you," I said. "I am more afraid of this all being a dream."

He sighed, his shoulders relaxing. "That's good progress. Masuk, I am so glad that you are able to see me."

I remembered what he said when I first started to see him. Tir has been by my side since he died. So I was never as alone as I felt. Wait, did he see everything. I sat up straighter and pulled my body fully into the bed before settling into a yoga sitting pose.

"If you've been here since the beginning, you must have been so lonely."

Tir's expression was one of surprise. He blinked a few times before smiling. "Watching you was really interesting so I wasn't truly lonely."

"Liar."

He shook his head. "It was nice to see that I was loved so dearly."

I felt my face tingle. This guy saw me crying buckets, hugging his picture and being a complete wreck over him. His head must feel so big right now.

I cleared my throat and said, "Well what did you expect."

"Masuk, "he straightened and I knew he was about to say something serious. Ghosts only linger because they have something important to say then after that they would move on into the light or something. "Listen okay, about how I died."

"Ah!" I shouted and covered my ears. "I don't want to hear it."

"wait." I watch him try to reach me, probably to get my hand away from my ears but his hands simply slipped through mine.

I dropped my hands and stared at him wide-eyed. That's right. Ghost can't affect the physical world. Tir, can't touch me and neither could I touch him. I don't know why I reached for his retreating hand even when I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold it.

We stared at each other as my fingers slipped through. My eyes began to sting and then I was crying. I bite down on my lip to keep hold of myself but it was just too sad. I can finally see Tir, talk to him and hear his voice but he wasn't really here. He was somewhere in between and I couldn't even touch him. I have been longing for so long to be able to just see him again. I thought that would be enough, but not being able to touch him seemed too cruel.

"Masuk, please stop. If you cry then I would want to comfort you and I can't hold you. Please don't make me feel so helpless."

"Sorry, Tir. I am so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. I didn't die because of you, Masuk. It is not your fault"

"Don't tell me that!" I yelled. "Your life was cut short thanks to me. I shouldn't have told you to go in without me, knowing you I know you would have waited outside for me and then nothing would have happened. If I wasn't being so lazy, I could have gotten there on time and I saw that movie, it was crap. We would have left before anything happened. In fact, if I hadn't been neglecting us so badly, we wouldn't have gone on that date. It is all my fault."

"No, Masuk, listen to me."

"I can't let you go again, Tir!" my desperate shout brought silence on us. "I know what this is. You will say your piece about how you want me to move on with my life and forget you, but I won't. I won't love anyone else and I certainly won't move on. I will cling to you till the day I die so..." my eyes pooled again as I said, "so don't leave."

Tir

I opened my mouth a few times to say something but couldn't find the words. I didn't expect this. Masuk looked like he was struggling a lot so I wanted to reassure him that it was okay. I wanted his happiness only and his sadness made me unable to leave him alone. I don't know what I was thinking staying this long by his side but I am rooted and cannot leave, not until Masuk himself tells me to go. I thought it would be easy to get him to tell me to go, but Masuk...

"Don't look at me like that." He shifted away and brushed tears from his face.

"How am I looking at you?"

"Like I'm crazy and need help?"

I couldn't even fake the smile that pushed my lips upwards. "You are crazy and you need help."

He turned and glared at me. "Say that again."

"I love you, Masuk."

That shocked him speechless. He blinked twice and glanced away.

"I can't blame you for what happened to me and I think you are blaming yourself too hard. There is no way that my death is your fault and I think you know this too."

He didn't respond so I continued, "If you really don't want me to leave then I won't, only until you can one day meet someone, love them and move on."

"I won't," he glared at me, "I already told you."

I chuckled and looked at the bed. "Then what about Jia."

"Jia?" his puzzled expression was truly hilarious.

"Don't tell me you can't see it."

"See what."

"I have watched you watch him, Masuk."

"wh—are you crazy?! He is my boss."

"So? Will you argue and tell me that you don't think about him that way even a little bit."

He groaned and swiped the strand of hair dangling around his face out of the way. "Jia is just my boss, nothing more. Why are you acting like there is something there."

Because I know you and he is the only thing that has piqued your interest since I died. I wanted to tell Masuk that I was okay with him starting something with Jia. In fact, I am in full support of it but he looked like he really didn't know anything about what I was saying. I knew Jia liked Masuk. It would be hard for him not to. If I can get these two together, would Masuk one day be able to move on and not hold on to me anymore?

I sigh and let myself smile. I guess it was worth staying to find out. I am not going to leave and let Masuk, stubborn ass that he is, die alone because he won't move on from me. 

Author's note: thanks for reading. please leave a vote before you go.