a roman candle heart keep us far apart

Chapter One

If there was one thing Andy wished he could have been notified of before he died, it would have been that he was going to be a goddamn ghost in the afterlife. He didn't exactly die in a car accident just to haunt the diner that the car crashed into for the rest of eternity. Diners were pretty boring when you couldn't actually eat anything.

Secondly, he didn't expect to be doing this 'haunting' gig with another ghost. A rather shy ghost, as well. He'd only seen him twice since he'd died and appeared here, and it was always in the frozen storage. Andy was pretty sure that the other ghost was hiding of his own free will, because hecould move around the place very freely.

So thirty days after he died, Andy decided that he was going to become friends with this other ghost, if it was going to be the last thing he did for all eternity. Somehow, he was going to.

The days were long when all one could do was observe and sometimes put chill bumps on customer's skin, so Andy was content with floating around the frozen storage area. He sat where the burger patties and chicken nuggets were kept cold for a good week before any sight of his fellow ghost. Andy was glad too, because he was close to ready to possibly ghost vomit on something due to the way that the food was stored for so long.

The other ghost was a boy that was barely out of his teens, and his hair was so blond Andy was pretty sure it was bleached. Andy just kept still, and it seemed like he was approaching a wild animal. Of course, it didn't take too long for the young man to catch eye with him. "Oh." Was all he said, trying to grip on something, even though his hands kept sinking through everything.

"Are you afraid of me?" Andy asked, expression softening at the fear the other ghost clearly showed.

"Not scared, just not expecting you. How long have you been waiting for me?"

"'bout a week. No big deal. What's your name? You can call me Andy."

"Uhm, name's Patrick. Patrick Stump. Nice to meet you, A-Andy." Patrick stumbles on his words, the hint of a smile finally coming on his face as he holds out a hand.

Andy grins as he shakes hands, and is relieved that they can at least touch hands. He also finds that Patrick's hands are surprisingly warm. This left him slightly confused. "Aren't we supposed to be cold to the touch?"

"Only when warm-bodied people touch us, then we're ice cold. But if it's another ghost, it's kinda like...being alive, I guess?" Patrick shrugs, green eyes blinking in curiosity at Andy. "You haven't been dead long at all, have you?"

Andy shakes his head, taking a moment to observe what Patrick is wearing. After seeing the bowtie, the white top, and the fingerless gloves, he starts to wonder what exactly Patrick did when he was still alive. He would make sure he asked him whenever they became friendlier.

—-

It's been ten years since Andy died, and nearly sixteen since Patrick died, and the diner isn't really a diner anymore. It's more of a café, and nobody really goes there to buy anything. The two ghosts wonder what will happen to them once the café goes out of business, which it will any day now.

Every night, they both float on the roof of the establishment, gazing at the stars and clouds, and sometimes talk to each other. Patrick will float on the edge, and Andy will float a bit behind him, still unnerved after all of these years about jumping off the roof.

One particularly bright night, Andy breaks a long silence with a question. "What is life, Patrick?"

Patrick takes only a moment before answering in a quiet voice, "The thing I really sucked at when I was still alive." He drums his fingers against his thigh as the words pass his pale lips into the night air.

Andy frowns at his friend's answer and flutters over to his side, now peering over the edge of the roof to the parking lot below. "Oh now, no more of that, Patrick," Andy says, wrapping a heavily tattooed arm around Patrick's shoulders. "That statement is completely false. You're amazing at life...even though you're dead. Most certainly doing the afterlife gig better than I."

Patrick throws his head back and laughs loudly, looking at Andy with squinted eyes and a dimpled smile on his face. "Andrew Hurley, you are the most ridiculous ghost I know."

For a moment, Andy didn't even think they were ghosts, but more like close friends huddled away from the world. That fact made him smile widely at Patrick and lean more into him. He was pretty sure spending eternity with Patrick wouldn't be as bad as he had thought it would have been ten years ago.

Andy was looking forward to spending many more moonlit nights on the roof with Patrick.