roommate [shane/ryan]

👻 chapter nine 👻

"So, how's your ghost boyfriend?"

Shane could nearly picture his face getting flushed as he focused intensely on his school lunch to avoid the teasing from his friends. His ouija board sessions with Ryan were becoming a nearly nightly occurrence and Keith and Zach were having a ball with that knowledge. While Shane could attribute some of it curiosity and fake science, he knew that the true reason was the fluttery feeling he got in his stomach whenever the planchette would move. He shook his head, dipping one of his french fries in the tiny paper cup of ketchup on his lunch tray.

"I'm not dating him," Shane protested, exasperated. It wasn't a lie. Dating requires the consent of both involved and as far as Shane knew, they had never talked about it. Besides, Shane hardly even knew what Ryan looked it. Not to mention the whole ghost thing, which would complicate the hypothetical situation immeasurably. Regardless of the long-winded explanation, Shane wasn't dating the ghost.

However, that's not the say there wasn't a heavy amount of flirting in their ouija board conversations. It was weird. It was so fucking weird and Shane was so painfully aware of it. Unfortunately, his inability to keep this all to himself was what landed him in this situation. It began as an offhand comment to Keith and Zach while they were driving to Wendy's at midnight last weekend. He mentioned, nonchalantly, that he had been talking to the ghost a lot lately. He figured that it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but he was quickly proven wrong by the way Zach whipped around in his seat to look at him, eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"The ghost that thinks you're cute?" he had asked, voice rising in pitch throughout the entire sentence.

Shane remembers his face feeling hot as he nodded. "Uh, yeah," he said, "That one. The only one in my house."

Zach had gasped, eyes lighting up. "Are you guys boyfriends now? Are you dating the ghost?"

Zach's enthusiasm tickled Keith so much that he nearly had to pull the car over because he was laughing so much. Shane's face burned with embarrassment as the conversation quickly became his friends' favorite inside joke.

So, here they were, sitting at their usual lunch table with Shane as the butt of the joke again. It wasn't as if he felt offended by it, but more so that it was just too close to reality for his comfort. Especially since last night, he had asked Ryan if he would have dated him while he was still alive and Ryan said 'yes' almost embarrassingly quickly. That, Shane had decided, was only for him to know. He didn't want to encourage his friends because God knows they get enough encouragement on their own.

"Can I plan your wedding?" Zach asked, playfully. Shane swatted him away, but Zach continued teasing. "I want you to imagine the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, but it's your wedding."

Shane laughed as the image filled his mind. "Yeah, of course. Make sure all the flowers are dead and wilted, though. For the aesthetic."

Keith scoffed. "Do you really think we would have live flowers at your ghost wedding? This isn't amateur hour, Shane!"

The teasing continued for the rest of lunch until their banter was interrupted by the sound of the bell and a hundred kids shuffling to leave the room as soon as possible. Keith gave him a friendly slap on the back as he left to stop at his locker before his next class. Shane felt a sense of relief at their absence. He knew his friends meant well, but every conversation they had about Ryan left him itching to go home and dig his stupid ouija board out.

It was only in calculus later that day that Shane admitted to himself what had been obvious to everyone around him as he doodled little ghosts in his notes. Maybe I do have a crush on him, he thought. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

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a/n: only one more chapter left after this one before the fic is finished !!! i hope you guys are excited as i am :^)