Ever since that day when Gwen had broken down in front of you, you started to research online if there as any way that you could help her off that street. Even if you couldn't help her ascend to heaven or anything, at the very least you could move her to a spot in which there was more foot traffic, or better yet another ghost that she could interact with. The whole idea was morbid and gross to think about, but you didn't want to see her suffer anymore, there had to be a way. You had your powers for a reason, and you would be damned if you didn't put them to good use.

The time that you didn't spend with Gwen, which you had increased by a few hours, was time spent locked in your room as you visited countless supernatural pages. Each of them had information dating from just a few days ago all the way to old tribal superstitions and ideas.

Some of them sounded really far out there, while others just seemed like stupid entries placed by people writing fiction. Nevertheless, if you thought a process to help a ghost ascend sounded valid enough, you would try it out with Gwen to see if anything were to happen. Time and time again, you were disappointed with the lack of reaction.

Gwen had told you not to worry about it, and seemed a little worried with how far you were taking this as most of your conversations now involved helping her move on. You just couldn't forget what had happened that day, even if you did come off as strange or weird with what you were doing, you had to get her out of here, she needed freedom from the boundary, at the very least this one.

There were still two theories left that you could try out to see if it would help Gwen out of her boundary, and thankfully you saved them for last since they looked the most promising getting off of what you had read on them so far.

One involved doing an old African ritual in which you had to chant some words while holding a couple of ingredients. The other was an old native American ritual, in which one would let out blood from their palms, and touch hands with a ghost in order for them to have increased physical contact.

You were a little queasy about the second one, but not just that. You couldn't touch Gwen physically, so you didn't really understand all that well what that meant when it came to exchanging palms. The African one seemed more appealing, but gathering the materials would be a hassle, and you felt like you were being trolled with how rare the required ingredients were.

Nevertheless, you had to choose one.

You native American Ritual

You didn't feel like doing a scavenger hunt that could end up being a waste of time going off by your previous leads. At the very least you could try this one first and do the African ritual later. Though you were a bit confused when it came to the part in touching hands, as from what you know that wasn't very possible, and you wanted to make sure you could do it before you started bleeding yourself.

You tried several times in touching Gwen whenever you two were talking, but each time your hand would go through her body and she would look confused in what you were trying to do. That probably had to do with the fact that you had told Gwen that you had given up on your efforts and to make the best out of what the two of you had. You wanted to surprise her if any of your efforts were to come to fruition so for now, you had to play dumb.

Gwen seemed relieved at this as it meant that it would put a stop to your antics and experiments that you would try on her. Maybe she was glad that things were going back to normal. But no matter what lies you told her, you wouldn't stop trying, not until you found a solution to all of this.

You looked a bit more online as now your research was focused on how to make ghosts physical. You tried your experiments in secret on Gwen as each of them failed as the ones had before. You didn't get far into your research though when similar phrases and words kept on reappearing with each new website that you visited. Apparently increasing a spirits happiness or any kind of a strong emotion, would lead to a bigger connection to the one that caused it.

Well, that's what you interpreted from what you had read. You didn't want to make her to sad or mad, so you would be going with making her happy. But how would you make her happy? Wasn't she happy content enough that you were talking to her every day? She sure seemed like it with her mannerisms and occasional laughter at what you had to say every now and then.

How happy would you have to make her to get this ritual to work, and would you have to cut your palm right there and then to get it done quickly before her happiness died down?

Fuck, you needed to get yourself a pocket knife.

There weren't many ideas of ways to make Gwen happy that you were able to think of, at least not much that could be done within the confines of her street. You didn't think you could reach the limit of happiness you needed with just words, maybe you could, you just didn't know how.

"Is there anything that would make you really happy, like anything I could bring you physically for you to see?" You asked her one day to see if you could get any leads.

"No not really, please don't tell me you're going on about this again. I told you to forget about that day, I never should have said those things so openly. Please, I'm happy now knowing that you're here with me." She pleaded as you frowned a bit.

There was always the chance that she really was happy, and doing the ritual now was all you needed to do in order for her to ascend. Though something was telling you that it wasn't the case, and you needed to do something big in order to reach the criteria.

Though as you were thinking about her happiness, you started to think about your own, as the thoughts that had been circling your mind earlier for the past few days kept on recurring.

Did you really want to see Gwen go?

Yes

No.

You weren't about to pussy out of this because you were starting to get second thoughts. That would be incredibly selfish to make Gwen suffer on that shitty street while you knew you could do something about it, as she herself could not.

There had to be a way, and you would try every way possible.

Starting with this one.

----

You knew what these feelings were, you'd known them for a while now. You've had them ever since you first started talking to Gwen. As her face got less deformed and you started to talk to her more, the feeling just got stronger and stronger.

You brushed it off at first as a stupid feeling that you shouldn't have been getting. Though it wouldn't go away, and a lot of the times you couldn't really look at Gwen straight in her eyes without you blushing a few times when she made her usual jokes.

She really quickly changed from that fragile quiet girl you found on the street to someone filled with personality, who was both funny and caring at the same time. You loved her, yet you still wanted to see her go.

You hoped to god that this ritual wouldn't send her off, maybe at best it would let her free roam around the planet to her heart's content. But even then, that would be dreadful.

If that were to happen then you would need to be with her to keep her company, or at least find other ghosts that could do it as well if she were to get tired of you. Because of all this, you had been delaying the ritual for a few weeks already, it was about to be a month now, as each day went on you kept on hating yourself more and more, though it's not like in that time did you have an opportunity to make her euphoric.


As these thoughts kept on running through your head, an idea came into view.

Maybe if you told her that you loved her, that would make the spark you needed for the experiment to come together. Thinking it over it did sound really self-centered and cliche, but it was really worth a shot, and you wanted to convey your feelings before anything was to happen if she were to disappear or ascend without you knowing or being able to say your final goodbyes.

This led to a whole other set of problems as you started pussyfooting around the whole confession. Although to be fair you weren't exaggerating when you said it had to be perfect, in more than two ways. You had to make sure you did it with enough finesse to swoon her over, and you had to be agile enough to make the cut and start the ritual, or at least persuade her into doing it for you without having to trick her.

This isn't something that you could redo at a later day, it was all or nothing with this.

Though with enough planning and patience, and the knife that had taken a while to get shipped from Amazon, you had planned for your confession and the ritual to fall on the day of Friday.

With each passing day you rehearsed what you were planning on saying in your head countless times, and making sure that Gwen wasn't in a bad mood or anything that would ruin your surprise if she kept up with it for the entire week.

When it finally came to Friday, you were really fucking nervous about how everything would turn out. Like an edgy school shooter emo, you had been fake practicing the cut in the mirror to be as quick and precise as possible. You were really bad when it came to pain so that would probably be the worst part out of this whole experience.

It would be on your walk home when you would confess, and you waited a little bit later before actually starting your walk since you were wanting to do it a bit towards the time that the sun would lower. The last thing you needed was someone calling the cops because they saw a kid cut his wrist.

--

"You're a little late, did anything happen at school?" Gwen asks.

"Yeah had to stay behind for a bit of tutoring is all." You lie with a smile.

"Ah, well that's good, I'm glad you're actually doing something about it now, with how tired you look every morning I could have guessed with how you were doing in school."


"Is it really that obvious..." You frown.

She laughs. "No don't feel bad about it, I'm just really good at reading expressions and all."

You couldn't really tell if you were actually acting like that, or if it was just apart of your fake act from your earlier meetings.

Forgetting about that for a moment, you started to think of your words.

You start slowly

"Gwen, for the time that we've known each other, what do you think of me..." You ask while looking away a bit.

Though you see her smirk a little.

"What brought on that type of question?"

"Just wondering."

She seems to think for a moment, seeming to choose her words slowly.

"Well....you were really nice to me. Yo still are, but I'm glad you stopped being super nice after that one day. You also really care about being on time here, which I appreciate....so I guess I think you're OK."

HNNNNNNGGGGG.

"Just OK?" You say half-jokingly, although on the inside being completely serious.

She gives you a sly look with her eyes.

"Well tell me then, what do you think of me?" she asks.

"I think you're OK." You reply with a smile.

"Oh fuck off, don't make me say that embarrassing stuff and you not do the same." She said slightly annoyed.

"Well....I think you're a pretty cool ghost. You're very interesting to talk too, and you have a good sense of humor about things. You care about....well what happens to me and my school work so there's that too, I guess." Your carefully picked words cause Gwen's face to shift in a certain way. You couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or something else, but she also couldn't seem to make eye contact with you either.


"Gwen, I.....well I really like you."

You didn't really know what to say after that, your mouth kind of dried up the point in which you didn't feel as if you could get anything else out of your throat.

"Uh-h well..." You heard Gwen's reaction sounded stiff and hoarse.

"W-Well I like you to I g-guess!" Gwen was a little bit louder with how she said it, trying to laugh along with it after saying it, though it sounded extremely unnatural.

"Fuck I made things weird didn't I, I'm sorry." you apologize sheepishly.

"No! Please don't. I mean yeah it is kind of awkward the way you said it. I would have worded it a bit differently I mean, but.....well I really do have the same feelings." she replies, a bit sturdier with her voice.

"Well....I...It's more than just liking....I love you..."She finishes after a brief pause.

"I loved you when you first came here and decided to stay.....you could of walked away but you stayed the first time and that's all that really took....I hated when you weren't here, and I always looked forward to our little talks, even if they weren't for that long. Maybe because they were so short is why I treasure them so much. I like to hear about your day, I want to know about your problems, I just want....I want to be with you..."

Man, she was doing a better job than you were doing with this confession. She didn't even lose eye contact when she said that last part, her facial expression was one of seriousness, she didn't laugh that last bit off.

"I love you too....That's why....Well that's why I want to help you. If it's just one way that could bring us together, or let you have your peace. I don't care if you say you don't want it, I'm doing what I'm doing because I care about you, and if a day comes where I have to stop coming that's out of my own control, then I don't want you to be here all alone, at the very best, I want you to be with me." You say, trying your best to sound as sincere as possible with your antics.

"Well, I know that you have my best intentions in your heart, just please don't get yourself hurt over it, that's the last thing I want."

Shit.

"Well that's the thing, please listen to me through before you say anything though." You plead as you see her facial expression darken as she hears this from you.

"I'm going to try a ritual, which just involves he drawing a little blood. After that we just need to hold hands while I say a chant. Afterward, I think you'll be able to walk free and go with me wherever I go. I want that more than anything, to just be with you outside of this street, and I think this way is going to work."

Her attitude on this seems mixed as she seems hesitant about it, although you're already taking out your knife as you flip it open.

"Wait! How do you know this is going to work?" Gwen hastily asks.

"I honestly really don't, but I'm going to try either way. I'm not just doing this for you either, I'm doing it for me." You joke as you reflexively wince while making the cut. Although you make sure to not do it too deep that it would be dangerous or worry Gwen to an extreme level, though blood was easily flowing now if you tipped your wrist over sideways.

You raised out your hand for Gwen to grab.

"Let's try it out Gwen, me and you. You just need to grab my hand." You say.

Again she seems to hesitate. Though much less now as she seems to make up her mind in less than a minute.

"OK. Together then."

Gwen reaches for your hand as your heart beats rapidly, as if ready to explode from your chest.

You feel contact, as her cold clammy hand meets with yours. Your stomach drops as your knees begin to buckle, but you stand as firm as you can as you start to remember the chant.

The words escape your mouth as you look up a little into the sky. You change your gripping from her hand to her forearm as you speed up the chant.

Gwen grips you harder as she looks down.

The chant ends as you finish saying what you needed to say.

You don't feel anything different, and that makes you start to panic internally. Gwen slowly starts to look back up as her grip on your wrist begins to loosen, so does yours.

"D-Do you know where your boundary is?" You stammer, not giving up on your hopes that something had changed.

"Yeah, that fence is where I usually can't pass through...." She says quietly.

Both of you start walking towards the fence, though your pace is slow as it's hard to move your feet with how weak they feel, while Gwen is right beside you at the same speed.

When you reach the fence, you both pause. Both of you don't step forward, and part of you hopes that Gwen does it first. But since this was all your idea, it was best to find out if this was all for naught.

Stepping past the fence, you turn around and look at Gwen, who's un-moving,

You raise out your hand again for her to grab.

"Come on, only one way to find out."

All she needed to do was be able to grab your hand, that was all. Even if she couldn't leave this boundary, the of you being able to make physical contact was already enough to make you happy.

Her hand raised up as it shook with nervously, moving it closer to yours, she grabbed your hand.

She grabbed your hand.

Outside of the boundary.

The two of you froze for a moment as nothing was said. Though immediately afterward, you felt your body push back as a large amount of weight fell on top of you from the front. Falling on your ass, you felt arms embrace around torso while loud wails pierced your ears. Gwen was crying, and she was really letting it all out as you felt your shoulder be soaked with tears. Though looking down, you saw that your shirt wasn't wet, which was a really weird feeling. You hugged Gwen back as you let her cry out what she needed to cry out, rubbing her back to console her a bit.

"It worked....>I-It really worked!" She cried into your ear.

Maybe you should have been crying too, but your face just felt numb as you realized what you did actually worked, maybe deep down you expected nothing out of this, and to have it actually work just shook you.

Though you knew, that now, everything was going to be OK.

You got Gwen off the street.

You later

You and Gwen talked throughout the night at your house. She looked at every square inch of your room while you offered to take her out somewhere for the night so that she could see the rest of the city again. Gwen also wanted to take the time to clean your wound herself after you supplied her with what was needed, saying that this was something she wanted to do.

She refused though, saying that was where she wanted to be.

Music was played, tears were shed, and before you knew it you were passed out with exhaustion on your bed.

Ghosts couldn't sleep, so Gwen stayed up, sitting on your bed and playing with your hair while you lost consciousness.

When you had woken up, she was back to where she was.

You asked if she had stayed there the whole entire night, she said no, telling you she had explored your house for a couple of hours.

Since it was the weekend, you decided that it would be best to take her out to go do something, and you already had an idea of what to do. Though you would have to wait until tonight to actually get there when you wanted to get there.

Hanging out at your house and just talking for most of the morning, you got some money from your wallet and told your mom you would be coming back later tonight, saying you would be out with friends and getting a ride home from them.

Paying for a bus fare you and Gwen traveled to a local mountain in which people usually hiked at. Though you didn't tell her the destination since you wanted it to be a surprise. You didn't think ghosts could get fatigued either, though it wasn't really that long of a climb so no need to worry about it.

Upon arriving, there were only a few cars parked in the parking lot. The mountain didn't have a closing time, or at least this trail didn't you think. You already took the precaution of taking a flashlight too for the way down, since you would be up here until nightfall.

"We're going hiking? That's so lame, It's late too." Gwen complained.

"Stop being such a baby, there's something cool to see up top."

"You know what else is cool? Taking your ghost girlfriend to go see a movie or something."

"Maybe if you appreciate my thoughtful trips I'll take you when I feel like it." You joke.

She smirks. "Ass."

Reaching the top of the mountain, you continued on at the little plateau that was on the top in which you could look at everything.

"Wow, the view from here is pretty..." Gwen says with admiration.

"Yeah, but it gets even better." You say.

She asks why, but you change the topic, and just begin to talk about random topics for the next couple of hours.

Luckily there weren't that many people who came upon this mountain top at this time of day, only a few others you saw though they went to the other side of the area, whether that to avoid the crazy man talking to himself you had no idea.

As the last bits of rays were disappearing in the horizon, the view that you had been waiting for came into full effect as you stopped the conversation that was going on and pointed towards the view, to which Gwen had been oblivious too until now.

An audible "Woah" escaped her lips as she saw what you were seeing.

Countless city lights had brightened up buildings as far as the eye could see since downtown wasn't that far away, you were able to see how beautiful the skyscrapers could be.

"It's so pretty..."

"Yeah, I came up her once during one time when I was climbing with my uncle, it's something I really wanted to see again."

The two of you continued to look in silence as your arm was wrapped around the shoulder of Gwen.

You had no idea how things would go from here, you finished what you needed too and you got what you wanted. Though the uncertainty if Gwen would ever enter the final stage of leaving this planet would be on your mind for quite some time, as long as she was here with you and you could physically feel her hand in yours, then you really didn't really care all that much.

You would live each day as it was, and live it happily with Gwen.