AN: I AM SO SORRY I MADE YOU WAIT THIS LONG I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON. I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter, but it has an important plot point, so yeah.

==EDIT== Sorry about the chapter formatting issues. Should be fixed now.

Haunting You

Chapter Four – Plans

By ObsydianDreamer

When Roderich awoke the next morning, Gilbert wasn't anywhere to be found.

It was clear he had returned to the apartment at some point that night though; the place, as usual, was a mess. The couch had been overturned, as had the bookcase. What little crockery that had survived the tower incident had been destroyed.

The paint was dry though, which meant it would be easier to flake off.

"Small mercies," Roderich thought, somewhat sarcastically. The room was still going to take hours to fix and clean. He sighed; he couldn't help but feel a little guilty over what he had said the previous day.

Yes, Gilbert was completely in the wrong; destroying his belongings and generally being a nuisance. He absolutely refused to pander to the ghost's extreme and destructive behaviour.

But what he'd said before had very obviously affected the Ghost. Before that, he'd never seen Gilbert show any emotion apart from glee when one of his pranks worked. Roderich knew he would have to apologise, but then what? If he was going to continue with his tirade, Gilbert couldn't stay. All in all, he wasn't sure what to do.

It was clear he would need some help about dealing with ghosts.

That day, Roderich dedicated his spare time between lectures on research.

Walking into the library, he went straight to the supernatural section. There were books about the mythology of all imaginable kinds of mystical and magical creatures, but none that seemed to discuss the topic or possibility that they existed, or what to do in such a case.

In the end, Roderich borrowed every book to do with ghosts anyway. Shuffling his way to the borrowing desk with arms full of books, he was greeted by the librarian.

She was an old, but kindly looking woman with grey hair and thick glasses. As she stamped the books, she began to chat.

"Into the supernatural, are we?" She asked. Roderich just nodded and checked the time.

"You know, there's a lovely English boy who loves magical creatures as well," she mentioned as she worked. "You should talk to him."

"Really?" Roderich asked, incredulous. Perhaps this other student would know what to do, or at least know something. "What's his name?"

"Oh, I think it's Arthur," She replied, handing him his books. "He's a music major."

"Thank you," Roderich said, heading to the music hall.

After asking around for the better part of an hour, Roderich finally found the room where a certain Arthur Kirkland and his band rehearsed.

They had just finished a practice session, if the band was anything to go by. Those there were packing up their various instruments, talking to each other excitedly. Searching the room, Roderich spotted who he hoped was Arthur.

The young man had messy blond hair, and was wearing a vibrant Union Jack shirt. He was sitting on a music amp, absentmindedly strumming his guitar and humming along to a tune only he seemed to know.

Walking up to him, Roderich cleared his throat awkwardly before asking "Are you Arthur Kirkland?"

The man's head shot up, revealing bright green eyes and eyebrows like nothing else Roderich had ever seen.

"Can I help you?" Arthur asked, rather impatiently.

"I was told you have considerable knowledge about supernatural things," Roderich said, all but whispering. "Including ghosts."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. Turning to his band, Arthur called out. "I'm gonna be a while. Don't wait up."

He turned back to Roderich, with a deadpan look on his face.

"You rented the apartment, didn't you?"

Roderich just nodded his head. Nothing else needed to be said.

"What has he done?"

Roderich quickly relayed what had happened in the past week; everything from the noises late at night to the unexpected and unwanted paint job that had occurred only yesterday.

"God, Gilbert is such a prick," Arthur said, "I would know; I rented the place before you."

Relieved to have found someone who understood his predicament, Roderich asked. "So, why does he haunt the apartment?"

"Well, ghosts haunt the place where they died," Arthur explained. "I don't know when Gilbert died, so it's possible he's been there for years. He obviously has some unfinished business in this world, since he hasn't moved on yet."

"Is it possible to…Move him on?" Roderich asked. He felt a little bit guilty, but really, wouldn't this be the best solution for everyone?

"I already tried to drive him out using spells when I was staying, but he was just too stubborn to go," Arthur replied, packing up his guitar. "Given time, I might be able to formulate a charm powerful enough to force him to move on. But in the mean time, you're going to have to find something to keep him amused, unless you want more of your things going missing."

And so it was agreed; Arthur would try to find a way to make Gilbert leave. In the meantime though, Roderich would still have to live with the infuriating ghost.

Roderich had an idea though, and borrowed a bunch of movies from his former American roommate. Gilbert was probably bored; Roderich reasoned. If he could distract him with movies, hopefully he wouldn't cause as much damage while he was away.

Roderich opened the door to the apartment, and stepped in, half expecting to have something thrown at him. But no-one was there, so he placed his bag on the table and addressed the room.

"I'm sorry about what I said, Gilbert," Roderich explained, walking to the coffee table and carefully placing the DVD's there. "I brought you some DVD's to apologise, so you'll have something to do during the day instead of destroying things. And please don't damage them, they're not mine."

There was no reply.

Roderich sighed, and spent the rest of the afternoon, and then evening, continuing as normal. Gilbert made no appearance, but later that night, when Roderich was already in bed, he could hear the sound of an action movie, and Gilbert say something.

"Eh, The Stuck-Up's not so bad."