Summary of ch 1: Set after the music video. Arthur has been hiding a little secret under his armband that will change the group's relationship forever.

Arthur must have lost his wristband when they fell through the trapdoor. He didn't even realize it was missing until Lewis' magenta-haired skeleton was looming over him. The other man's glowing eyes were filled with hatred and malice, emotions that Arthur had never seen on his friend's normally cheery face.

The mechanic knew he deserved to die, but he couldn't help throwing up his hands to ward off the specter. With his eyes screwed shut, and his heartbeat pounding loudly in his ears, Arthur didn't see the ghost stop short, his pink gaze focused intently on the purple letters written elegantly across the blonde's uncovered wrist.

Lewis

The boy's eyes popped open as a familiar body pulled him into a tight embrace. Lewis' skin was as cold as death, but Arthur could only cling back as tears soaked into the other man's purple vest.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. I am so sorry. You must have been hurting so much. Is that why you killed me?"

Arthur pulled back from his friend's hug, turning his face up to stare at Lewis in shock. "What?! How can you even think that?"

The ghost had decency to look repentant at his choice of words. "Well, I was with Vivi, and we did have each other's soulmarks…"

"Exactly!" the mechanic yelled. "You were my friends. I would never try to ruin your relationship!"

"Arthur…"

"We were both late in getting our soulmarks. I knew you'd eventually get one. There's no way a guy as great as you wouldn't." Arthur felt his face heating up, and tried to quickly get his words out. "My soulmark came so late that I thought I'd never get one. I started to wonder if I was mean to be alone forever, but it appeared one day, and it was your name. I was just- just so happy that I rushed right over to your house to show you. But Vivi was already there…"

Lewis nodded, watching his blonde friend curl in on himself at the memory. He remembered that day well. It was the day he woke with Vivi's name on his wrist, and she dropped by only 20 minutes later with a matching soulmark. They were so excited that they rushed to tell Arthur the moment he walked in the door. Their younger friend had seemed happy for them, but was sorry to say he couldn't stay long due to an appointment.

"You were so happy together that I knew I could never, WOULD NEVER, come between you." Arthur pulled back even more, staring at the purple tattoo on his wrist. "So I hid it, and just pretended it didn't exist. Pretended that I was just one of those people born without a soulmate."

Lewis wanted to take the other boy into his arms again, but Arthur had already turned away from him. There was one thing still prickling at his mind though…

"Arthur, what happened in the cave?"

"Something possessed my other arm, and pushed you off the ledge. It kept whispering all these horrible things in my head." The shorter man began to tremble at the memory. "Mystery had to bite off my arm to keep it from spreading. Hence the prosthetic," Arthur commented, stretching it out for Lewis to examine.

The specter reached out a gloved hand, bypassing the metal arm to take hold of Arthur's natural one. Turning the blonde's hand over, he traced the double scars above the soulmark. "And…" Lewis lowered his voice to a soft whisper, "what about these?"

Arthur cringed, his gaze lowering to avoid having to look his friend in the eye. "I… when I woke up in the hospital, they told me you were dead, Lewis, and my arm was gone, and Vivi was in shock and couldn't remember what happened after she saw you fall from the ledge. I just… couldn't do it anymore. I was always messing things up. If you knew about my soulmark, it would have messed up our friendship. If I hadn't been so weak, that spirit or demon or whatever it was, wouldn't have been able to possess me, and you'd still be alive." Tears began to trickle down the blonde's cheeks, but he continued, "I even managed to mess up my own suicide. I'm so pathetic."

Lewis let out a low, mournful moan as he pulled the other man back into his embrace. How could he have been so blind? Arthur was his best friend, and he'd thought such horrible things about him. After he'd died, all he could think of was revenge. He'd assumed Arthur must have been in love with Vivi, and had murdered Lewis to take his place. In his arms, the young man's throat hitched as he continued to sob. At that moment, Lewis decided he would find a way to make things right. Arthur and Vivi deserved to be happy, and he'd do anything in his power to fix this mess.

"STOP!"

Both boys turned their heads to see a familiar bluenette in the now-open doorway, panting from running all the way across the mansion. Mystery was hot on her heels, but a quick glance at the men had him smiling fondly.

"It's not Arthur's fault, he was possessed! He never meant to hurt you, Lewis," the girl rushed to explain.

"It's okay, Vivi. Lewis is a good ghost." Arthur used his real hand to attempt to wipe the tears off his cheeks, but was unable to move much due to the specter's arms still holding him close.

"Arthur… your soulmark is showing," Vivi whispered, once she was close enough to see it clearly.

The mechanic looked away in embarrassment. She'd probably be upset to know he had Lewis' name on his wrist. Lewis was her soulmate, after all.

"Vivi, Arthur's soulmate is…" the ghost began to say, only to be cut off by his lover.

"You," the girl admitted, looking apologetic. Both men stared at her in shock, before exchanging a quick glance with each other. Then their eyes were on her again.

"I… saw it one night. About a month before the cave incident. I went into Arthur's room to make sure he was actually going to bed, rather than working on his projects all night. He was asleep at his desk, but he'd taken off his wristbands, and I ended up seeing it." The bluenette fiddled nervously with the hem of her skirt, before continuing, "I should have said something… or at least tried to talk to Arthur, but I didn't. I knew that he'd do something drastic, like leave us, if he found out that someone knew. And… I was being selfish. I didn't want to lose either of you."

The girl stepped forward, asking Lewis' permission with her eyes. He slowly released his grip on Arthur, only to watch Vivi pull the mechanic into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, Arthur. I should have talked to you. You always keep so much inside, trying to keep us happy. I've been a horrible friend."

"No-no. You've been a great friend, Vivi. I'm the one who's sorry." Arthur glanced at his wrist over her shoulder. "I didn't mean for this weird love triangle thing to happen."

"I know."

Lewis wrapped his arms around his lover and his best friend. They stayed like that for the rest of the night: talking softly, and comforting each other as best they could. When the humans finally fell asleep in his arms, the ghost was reluctant to release them. The sun's rays may not reach that deep into the mansion, but he rested better in his coffin. Shaking his skull head, the skeleton carefully lifted his friends and settled them, one at a time, onto opposite ends of the plush couch he conjured into existence. Retreating to his resting place, the ghost slowly closed the coffin lid, and hoped that the pair would still be there when he awoke.

A scream echoed through the mansion, jolting Arthur from his sleep, and causing Lewis to burst out of his coffin in a panic. Unable to find the source of her distress, the ghost focused on his girlfriend with a confused glance. Her eyes were positively sparkling with excitement as she stared at her wrist.

Lewis slipped closer to her, casting a quick glance at Arthur to make sure he was safe. The blonde looked as confused as he felt.

"Look, Lewis! Look!" Vivi thrust out her wrist toward him.

The specter could feel his magenta hair surging to life in spikes, before settling into its normal style. Written delicately across the girl's wrist, just below his own name, was another name.

Arthur

Twin stares of shock and excitement turned on the mechanic, causing him to flinch back in alarm.

"Check your wrist, Arthur," Vivi urged, getting to her feet. She nearly jumped up and down with joy as the blonde's jaw dropped at the sight of his own wrist.

"I don't… I don't understand. It's not possible," Arthur whispered, metal fingers tracing the second name below the first.

Vivi

"It seems the universe is of the opinion that you should all be together," Mystery piped up. He was lounging at Arthur's feet, and smirking at the magenta-haired ghost knowingly.

"My turn then." Lewis scratched his skull nervously, then took hold of his floating locket heart. The anchor was a brilliant mixture of gold and blue swirls. Popping open the locket, the specter knew that if he'd been alive, he'd have been crying. To the right was a picture of the gang, Mystery included, smiling back at him. On the left, delicately engraved into the metal, were the names of his best friends.

Note: OMG! Checking out the profiles and realizing something: If Lewis died at 21, and Arthur is currently 22, and Vivi is 24… then Arthur was the youngest of the group or the same age as Lewis. Personally, I love the idea of Arthur as the youngest. So cute!