We Were Born To Die

This Could Be Love

"Come on."

"She’s usually in here."

Alice heard the voices outside the hall before she heard the door open. She didn’t bother looking away from the window as she watched a couple wandering by. She heard the twins laugh but it slowly faded away so she could only imagine that they had left the room.

"Hey," Alice turned at the voice, looking at the boy curiously. She recognized him, of course. His parents had just moved into the house, but that was all she really knew about him.

"You’re not supposed to be able to see me." She replied, partly to herself and partly to the boy in the room. He reminded her of Matt, the one boy she had dated when she was alive and it made her nervous to be in his presence.

"I can see all of you. My parents don’t know." He had moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, looking at the petite girl with curiosity. "Those two kids said you know all about this place."

Alice blinked, shrugging her shoulders slightly at the statement. She made a mental note to speak to Troy and Bryan about trying to set her up with the new teenage boys that came to the house. “I’m… I’m Alice, but I imagine you already knew that.” She said softly, turning in her chair to face the boy as she nervously pulled the sleeves of her cardigan over her hands.

"Connor Morrison." He said with a nod of his head. He grinned at the blonde. "It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve seen you wandering around a couple times now but never got a chance to talk to you."

"I don’t understand why you can see us…" She ran a hand through her hair, pushing her bangs away from her face for a moment before they fell back into place. She had been able to see Nora when she was alive, but no one else. It just didn’t seem to make sense.

"What happened to all of you? Why are there so many people in this house?" Connor looked serious, but he didn’t look like he was afraid to know there were ghosts in his house. It increased her uneasiness about the boy.

"We… we died here and now we can’t really leave…" She sighed, realizing just how strange this was. It had been so long since she actually spoke to a living person, so long that she had been near a boy anywhere near her own age that she felt uncomfortable now.

"Hey, I hate to sound rude, but there’s another girl around here that looks like she’s around your age. She always looks miserable or pissed off. Think you could introduce me?"

Alice stared at him for a long moment before realizing who he meant. She wasn’t surprised that someone seemed attracted to the other girl, but the fact that someone wanted her to introduce them to Violet. She shook her head after a moment with a small smile.

"I’m afraid I can’t. Violet and I aren’t exactly close… If you go to the room at the end of the hall you may find her though. It used to be her room."

Connor just nodded, suddenly seeming excited about the thought and said a quick goodbye before running out of the room.

Tate had seen the guy coming out of the room Alice had unofficially claimed as her own. He recognized him from around the house, knowing he was the son of the couple who lived there but it didn’t make sense. Alice avoided dealing with the living as much as possible, so why had she been spending time with this new boy? What also didn’t make sense was why he seemed so irritated by the thought of Alice liking this guy. He cursed, making his way through the house and back to the basement before running into Nora.

Nora wanted to get drunk. That was definitely new, but Tate wasn't about to turn the woman down. He could probaby go for a drink right about now anyways. He brain was too scrambled over Alice and the new boy. He needed to get his mind off of that, and maybe be highly entertained by seeing Nora drunk. So he stole some alcohol from the new family's liquor cabinet, cracked open and bottle and it wasn't long until he and Nora were lost in their thoughts and slurring their words. 

“You’re in love with her.”

Nora’s gentle voice shook him back to reality, realizing just what she had said. They often spoke of their blonde haired companion, but never had Nora ever said anything like that. Sure, she mentioned how lucky she was to have Tate as a friend, or how lucky he was to have Alice, but she never said he was in love with her. He wasn’t, was he? He loved Violet. But part of him knew what Nora said was true. Flashes of all the time he’d spent with Alice swarmed his brain. All the good times, the bad times, even times when she wasn’t around but still on his mind. “Fuck.” He was in love with his best friend and Nora knew before he even had a clue. He looked at the woman next to him, his vision blurring from the sudden movement.

“Fuck, what do I do?” His voice slurred as the room seemed to spin around him, but still he took another long sip from the bottle of vodka sitting on the counter between the two. Nora just giggled, a strange thing to witness but he accepted it.

“Well, start with telling her, and then go from there. Trust me, dear, she’s very much in love with you too. She has been for as long as I can remember.” 

Tate just stared at her again. How long had he been so fucking oblivious? As far as he could tell now, he had loved Alice since they met, but there was a high chance he never let himself feel that in case the darkness decided to use that against him. Hadn't it been hard enough having her as a friend?