He was about to go to the living room when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He could see his face in the mirror finally. Although it wasn’t a hundred percent opaque like a human, he could see that he was there.

Day by day, he noticed that he was getting less transparent. He was slowly losing the characteristics of a ghost and gained the features of a real man. His face started to show a peach flush and his hair began to possess a yellow-blonde color. A dark brown color started to return to his eyes. All the features that he only had a mere memory of had began to reappear.

Even though he could clearly see himself in the mirror, she still couldn’t see him. She could only hear his voice.
----

It was Saturday which meant she had no classes to attend. On this particular Saturday, she had finished all of her homework and was free to do whatever her heart felt like doing that day. One of those things involved going out and spending the evening with her friends. Today was one of her friend’s birthday. Today was also the day that her friend entered adulthood. They planned to dress up and eat at the fanciest restaurant their wallets could afford; then do things that they dreamed of doing during their high school years.

“How about this one?” she asked, picking out the flaws of the dress as she stood in front of the mirror. She was trying to find a dress, from her limited wardrobe, to wear that night.

“You look perfect,” he said in a monotonous voice. “Just like all the other dresses.” She frowned, unsatisfied with his comment.

Returning back to her closet, she dug through it, looking for another dress. “Why are you even worrying about how you look?” he nagged. “You’re only eating dinner.”

“It doesn’t kill to put a little effort into getting ready,” she defended herself. After searching up and down the small closet, she finally found another dress.

“Kris, get out,” she demanded while observing the dress. He obeyed and left the room so she could change.

She took off her current dress and slipped into the navy blue dress. She pulled up the zipper and straightened out the dress. While she posed in front of the mirror, contemplating about what dress she should wear, he entered her room.

“You look great,” he complemented. “Now hurry up because you’re friends are almost here.” She wanted to give him a scowling look but she didn’t know where to look so she kept it to herself. Quickly, she put on her shoes and touched up her hair and makeup.

Two car honks and a text message told her that her friends had arrived. She grabbed her jacket and purse before rushing to the door.

“I’ll be home soon!” she shouted and slammed the door shut.

It had been a few hours since she left and he was impatiently waiting for to come home. He glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was already one in the morning and she still wasn’t home yet.

“Soon,” he repeated her words. He scoffed at her meaning of ‘soon’. He knew she wasn’t going to return anytime soon. She was too busy having fun with her friends and forgot about him. Doubtful and jealous thoughts flooded his mind. He eventually gave up waiting for her and returned back to his picture.

She eventually came back but not as early as he wanted. When she entered her room, she didn’t hear a ‘welcome back’, not even a ‘hello’. She knew he never slept so why didn’t he greet her?

She shook it off and changed out of her formal clothes. It had been a long night of unexpected partying and drinking. Although her friends drank numerous shots, she only had a few. Someone needed to be the responsible one and stay sober.

She was about to crawl into her bed and have a good night sleep when she felt like something was missing. If everything was in its place then why did she have this feeling?

Then it hit her. He wasn’t there. She didn’t feel his being in the room.

“Kris?” she called out. No reply.

“Kris?” she called out again. Still no reply.

She left her bedroom and walked over to the picture hanging in the hallway. As she expected, he was there standing in the picture, in his original position, as if he never left. He rarely returned to his photo. But when he did, it meant something was bothering him.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly, staring at him in the photo. He only stared back at her with that strong gaze of his. “Is something bothering you?” She tried to think of things that would have bothered him but nothing came to mind.

“Fine, don’t tell me,” she was obviously annoyed from his lack of response. “Night.” She ignored the fact that he wouldn’t tell her what was wrong and went to bed; oblivious to fact that she was his problem.

A week passed by and none of them spoke a single word to each other.

One night she suddenly sat down in the middle of the hallway, staring up at the photo. “Kris it’s been a week,” she said. “Say something already.”

He knew he was wasting precious time by acting childish; however he was still mad at her. She had put him aside for some outing. He loved her but he was convinced that it was only him that felt like that. She didn’t show many signs of her returning the feeling.

She sighed out of unhappiness. While he sulked, thinking that she didn’t care for him, she, on the other hand, was slowly dying inside each day. She wanted to hear his voice, just to assure her that he was still there. She felt lonely each night without his presence next to her.

“I miss you,” the words unconsciously slipped out . “Please Kris…” His ears perked up after hearing her say that. He looked at her to see if she really was sincere. She was staring at the wall with knees tucked in close to her body, her eyes filled with sorrow.

She really did miss him all along but he was too busy being jealous to even notice it. He wasn’t aware of her quiet pleas for him or her tossing and turnings at night. He didn’t see her signs of misery.

“Do you really mean it?” he finally asked. She shot up from her position upon hearing his voice.

“Kris?” She wasn’t sure if she heard right. She looked at the photo only to find him missing from it.

“Did you really miss me?” he asked again. Part of her was relieved to hear his voice, but another part was embarrassed because he had heard everything she had said.

“Yeah…” she said. Her cheeks had a tinge of pink to them. He smiled. She missed him. That was enough to make him forgive her.

As she stared at the ground, hiding her embarrassment, her hair fell in front of her face. He reached out to move the stray hairs but stopped immediately when he saw her shiver.

“Is there a draft in here?” she asked, unaware of his failed attempt to touch her. A long yawn escaped her lips.

“Go to sleep,” he suggested. She didn’t hesitate and returned to her bedroom.

She slumped on to the bed and pulled her covers over her. It didn’t take long for sleep to take control of her and soon she was sound asleep.

He remained in the hallway recalling the short event that had just happen. He was absolutely sure that she liked him. She missed him. She felt lonely when they didn’t speak for a week. Wasn’t that enough to assume that she shared a mutual feeling with him?

He got his answer when he heard her mumble his name in her sleep. Curious, he checked in on her. She was still asleep. Her eyebrows furrowed and her forehead creased as she mumbled his name a second time. She rolled back and forth on her bed, causing her hair to become a tangled mess. He stood by her door and watched her, amused at how she looked.

“Kris…” she murmured again. She was dreaming of him.

He walked over to her bed and kneeled down to see her more clearly. His chin rested on his folded hands as he observed her quirky sleeping habits.

“I love you,” she suddenly said. His smile disappeared. It was so quiet that he wasn’t sure if his ears were playing tricks on him. Even so his heart stopped. The words that he had been eager to hear had finally been spoken. It was like music to his ears. He wanted to hear her say it again.

She rolled over on to her side, now facing him. Her hair was all over the place, slightly opened, her blanket pulled up to her chin. Unconsciously, he reached out and his fingers brushed the hair out of her face. It was a weird sensation, his skin touching her skin.

It took him a second to realize that his hand didn’t pass through her face. He stared at his hand, looking back and forth between his palms and arm for anything unusual.

He couldn’t see through it. It wasn’t transparent. He had finally returned to his original flesh and blood.

A smile formed on his face as he her hair. Everything was just like what he had imagined; everything from the warmth of her cheeks to the softness of her hair. He could finally feel it all.

“Would this be okay with you?” he asked quietly. He wasn’t sure if she would accept him being free. But wouldn’t she be okay? She was the one who set him free. She said she loved him.

Her eyes slowly opened at his action. As an instinct, she immediately grabbed a nearby pillow and was about to hit him when she saw who the intruder was.

“You’re…,” she gasped as she recognized him.

“Kris,” he finished for her. He couldn’t control his wide smile. So many feelings were going on inside his body. Happy, excited, anxious, relieved, content. It was too much for him to handle.

She lowered the pillow down. She didn’t know how to react. Up until to now, she only listened to his voice and talked into the air. She didn’t look into his eyes when she spoke to him because there was nothing to physically look at.

He sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her into a hug. It had been a long time since he had held someone in his arms so it felt a bit awkward. He rested his chin on to her shoulder and whispered into her ear, “I love you, too.” Her cheeks warmed up dramatically. She was thankful for the dark room or else he would have seen her pink face.

She avoided eye contact with him. After pulling away, he gently pushed her down on the bed, catching her off guard. She tried to ask him what he was doing but nothing but stutters came out. “Sleep,” he said as he pulled her blanket back over her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and was about to sleep when she felt him get off the bed. Then she opened her eyes again.

He was about to leave so she could sleep until she grabbed his wrist, tugging on it slightly, telling him to stay. He got her message and slipped into the other side of her bed. He held her close to his chest and she could hear his heartbeat. This was enough to prove that he wasn’t a figment of her imagination, that she wasn’t hearing things or going crazy.

 He grabbed her hand that lied against his chest, and intertwined his cold fingers with her short ones. She watched him as he did so. He loved the way her hand fit perfectly into his. He didn’t plan on letting go of her hand. He wanted to stay like this forever. He murmured ‘sleep’ into her hair. She looked up at him, admiring his features. His voice suited his face very well she thought. She didn’t want to fall asleep just quite yet.

He frowned when he found her staring at him instead of being asleep. He let go of her hand and covered her eyes with it. Her eyes closed automatically. They stayed like that for awhile and she finally drifted off to dream land.

He eventually removed his hand and when he did, he couldn’t help but notice how at ease she looked. During the other nights, she looked a little stiff and tensed but tonight she looked relax. He also noticed how her lips quivered a little every time she exhaled.

A thought suddenly popped up in his head. What if he kissed her? She wouldn’t know right? Just one short and sweet kiss was all he wanted. One kiss would be more than enough to satisfy him. He leaned in closer to her face, hesitant about stealing a secret kiss from her. As he inched forward, he started to feel very nervous. He could hear his heartbeat getting louder. Before their lips met, he stopped to check that she was really sleeping. Her non-existent movements said that she was asleep for sure.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he said in a hushed voice and with one quick motion of the head, his lips were pressed gently against hers. Despite her slightly chapped lips, he still enjoyed the feeling of her lips against his. The warmness and the inviting feeling of her lips made up for it. He loved every second of the kiss even though it only lasted for a short time. He had to force himself to stop kissing her because the seconds were quickly adding up.

When he pulled away, something caught his eye. She was smiling. Although her eyes were closed, the corners of her lips were curved up slightly. Seeing this, he became embarrassed. She was fully aware of everything he just did. She felt his kiss.

She knew he was real.

Sorry about the long wait, guys. Atleast it's finally up :U Oh. And sorry about the ending if it seems rushed or anything.