Once Yasmine felt like she could live with herself again, she slowly continued to get dressed. She had an outfit that she had bought specifically for this new job, and she was at least a little excited to get to wear it. She slipped on a set of nude colored pantyhose and a black, form fitting pencil skirt that lovingly hugged her hips. Then a white blouse that had some small frills near the collar, before topping it off with a gray long sleeved business jacket that buttoned at the bottom, leaving room for her rather prodigious chest.

Moving into the master bathroom, she checked herself out in the mirror before letting her hair down from her braids and brushing it out so it was as straight as possible. She then put on a tiny bit of makeup. She didn’t really like using the stuff, but she wanted to make the best first impression she could. That was when the intrusive thoughts started though.

“I wonder if Monty likes girls who wear a lot of makeup? I wonder what he will think of this outfit. What if…” She had to stop herself.

“I’m supposed to be mad at him! Not debating on whether or not a friggin’ ghost will like my outfit. Wake up, Yasmine. You aren’t ten anymore. You are just feeling all sappy because of old memories.” Yasmine growled to herself, trying to get herself out of this obsession she was falling into.

“Besides…He’s a ghost, he’s not even friggin’ visible. I should just be grateful that I have a friend that cares about me. Nothing would ever work between us.” Her face felt warm, even just entertaining the idea that something would ever happen between them. Any anger she felt at Monty from earlier quickly washed away. After all, it was just an accident. She did say his name out loud. She couldn’t blame him for checking in on her. It’s just who Monty was. He obviously still cared for her a lot, and he could never fault him for that. Even if he still saw her as a kid.

“I’m just gonna pass on and be done with it,” Monty told himself as he floated back and forth, pacing in the kitchen. He couldn’t believe he had done something like that. He felt horrible.

“Alright, I’m ready, go ahead take me, up or down, I don’t care anymore.” He said to anyone that was listening, holding his arms out and closing his eyes. But nothing happened. He frowned deeply at the inaction from the forces of the great beyond. When he first became a ghost, he felt like he was constantly at risk of being sucked into the sky. If he hadn’t anchored himself to the house, he was sure that his spirit would have passed on to whatever afterlife awaited him.

“What? You don’t want me anymore? Fine, then, who needs you?” He grumbled loudly, looking up at the ceiling.

“Who are you talking to?” Yasmine’s voice said suddenly as she stood in the living room looking into the kitchen.

“Yasmine!” He shouted in surprise. If ghosts could sweat, he was sure he would be covered in a cold one right now.

“I am so sorry for earlier. I should have knocked or something. I swear it won’t happen again. If you want me to leave, I totally understand. I was actually just trying to see if passing on was still an option for me and I-”

“Monty, stop it!” Yasmine shouted, a look of anger on her face. Monty froze and just stared at her. Her expression was anger but also a bit sad.

“Stop thinking that I want you to leave! Just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean I want you to pass on or go away. Yeah, I was kinda mad earlier, but I swear if you start talking about abandoning me again, I’m really gonna get angry.” He was a bit flabbergasted by the sudden outburst from her. He expected her to be mad at him, but this was something completely different. Seeing the corners of her mouth quiver slightly, he felt horrible.

“Yasmine I…I’m sorry, I don’t want to abandon you. I…I just know what I am,” He said sadly.

“If you say anything other than a friend, I am going to get mad at you for real,” Yasmine said with a scowl. Monty stood there staring at her, finally noticing just how she was dressed. His eyes traced her up and down. She looked so grown up and mature. It was a shock to him. Yeah, he had thought she was cute before. But this look was downright sexy.

“Well?” Yasmine said with a stomp of her foot. He snapped out of his trance and looked back up at her slightly red and angry face.

“Sorry, you are right. I promise, no more leaving talk. I am, and always will be, your friend. No matter what.” The words were what both of them needed to hear, but also brought on a strange feeling that neither understood well enough to describe.

“Good…” Yasmine said softly, her eyes lowering slightly. A silence engulfed them for several moments, both trying to sort out this odd feeling between them.

“You look very nice today, Yazzie.” Monty said, finally breaking the silence, prompting her to look up with a small glare at the continued use of her most hated nickname.

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“You really are all grown up now, huh?” This made her perk up slightly. It was rare that someone actually told her she looked mature. There were always comments about how cute she was or how young she looked. So this was a nice change. With a slight flush, Yasmine nodded to him.

“T-thank you, Monty. I appreciate that. I, uh, need to get ready for work and stop to get something to eat," she said, turning to start gathering up her messenger bag and putting on her shoes.

“I wish I could have made you something to eat, but they cleared out all the food when they were going through the house.” Yasmine looked over at Monty with shock at this information.

“You know how to cook?” She asked in disbelief.

“Of course I do. It's not that hard. Granted, it's been a while since I had the chance to cook anything, but I am pretty sure I still can. I just need groceries to make stuff with. Oh, and some pots and pans. They packed all that up as well. I’m glad that I was able to hide a lot of my cleaning supplies, or they probably would have taken those too.” He said with a laugh. Yasmine let out a soft giggle as well, now smiling brightly toward the ghost.

She always had to cook her own meals or order food while in the city. The stove in her apartment never worked properly, so making something that took more than a microwave was always nearly impossible. Hearing that Monty was willing to cook for her sounded like a dream come true. If she wanted a home cooked meal in the past, she would have had to go to her parents house, where her mom was only decent at cooking a few dishes, and her father would rather just grill most of the time.

“That would be amazing, Monty. Thank you. If you want to write down a list of what you need, I can try to stop at the grocery store on the way home.” She couldn’t see it, but Monty beamed brightly at this.

“Way ahead of you, " he said before dashing through a few walls. He didn’t sleep, so he had lots of free time during the night. Soon, a piece of paper came flying down the hallway towards her. Yasmine turned to watch it flap as it flew before stopping in front of her. She smiled and laughed softly at this.

“I swear I’m gonna get you some gloves or something so I can keep track of you.” She said as she took the paper from his hands. It was a rather long list, written in very fine cursive. It was so nice that he struggled in some spots to remember just what letters were. They didn’t really teach much cursive in school anymore. She knew people who couldn’t read it at all. Her friend Val was one of them.

As Yasmine went over the list, she wondered about some of the items. She was mostly just curious, really. She trusted Monty and was looking forward to what he was planning on making.

“Okay, how long do you expect all this to last?” she asked, wondering how many meals she could expect from it.

“Hmmm, since you are the only one eating, I would probably say around a month before having to restock.” She raised a brow at this. A month seemed like quite a long time, even if she was the only one that ate in the house. But she just shrugged and nodded, shoving the grocery list into her purse with a smile.

“Alright I've got to head out, don’t want to be late for my first day now do I haha." She said with a soft laughter.

“Of course, I hope you have a great first day at work, Yazzie.” She gave him a soft glare before quickly turning and heading for the front door, placing her hand on the doorknob, she paused to think. Simply leaving didn’t feel right. She knew what she wanted, and knew that he wouldn’t offer with all they went through in the last day. But she couldn’t push the craving away anymore.

When Yasmine turned back around, Monty looked at her in confusion.

“Is everything alright, Yasmine?” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, steeling her nerves for the question she was about to ask.

“Do you think… I could have a hug before I go? It's been so long, and last night, I remembered when you used to give me hugs all the time…No, sorry. I’m being stupid. Forget I said anything, haha.” She waved a hand, trying to laugh off her awkward request, turning to open the door and hide the shame on her face.

“Yasmine, wait,” Monty called out, floating up to her. She froze as she opened the door, her heart rate picking up. “I don’t mind giving you a hug…I just worry that I’m going to hurt you if I do.” Any physical manifestation he did, ended up being like a vacuum for heat, sucking it straight out of the room. Yasmine frowned deeply at his worry, but she understood why: when she touched him last night, it was like the warmth in her hands was stolen away from her.

“Just…Just for a little bit? If it starts to hurt, I will let go right away.” Her smile returned as she looked up at him. There was no way he could refuse her now.

“Very well, just for a moment.” With that, Monty turned his torso solid. The air where he was shimmered slightly with a wave of energy, visible for only a moment before vanishing. The area around him dropped almost ten degrees instantly. Undeterred, Yasmine moved in, holding her hands out till she found the familiar waist with her hands and quickly wrapped herself around him. His invisible limbs wrapped around her as well.

As cold as Monty was, she could still feel the warmth of his embrace. The way he cared about her hadn’t changed from what she remembered as a child. A smile spread across her face as she happily gave him a squeeze. Though there was warmth in her heart, the heat in her limbs was quickly dissipating. She begrudgingly let go as her teeth started to chatter badly.

“Are you alright? Crap, you are freezing!” He said with a sigh, quickly grabbing a throw blanket from the back of the couch. Yasmine wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as she stood there. “I knew this was a bad-”

“M-m-m-monty, I d-d-don’t regret-t-t-t it.” She chattered out, trying to smile as the blanket was wrapped around her. Monty smiled to himself as he tucked the blanket around her.

“Thank you Yasmine…that makes me happy.” He spoke softly to her, feeling a warmth in his cold, dead heart. “Now go before you're late. If you have a heater in your car, use it,” he suggested, opening the door for her to leave. She nodded, still shivering, as she walked out the door and to her car.

“S-see you tonight.” With a small wave, she got in her car and headed out. Monty waved goodbye to her as well, for his own sake, wishing she could see him send her off.