DISCLAIMER: I do not, I repeat DO NOT own Beetlejuice in any way, shape or form….so there!

Summary: Lydia is the prey, and we can guess who's the predator. But what happens when Lydia is confronted with a rather peculiar way of ending the chase?...

Like Always

IT was nothing but a blur of black and white. Lydia, with her white skin and a shock of long black locks, raced around her bedroom, knocking over her desk chair and climbing desperately over her plush bed to get out of his reach. Tiny beads of sweat laced her forehead and her breath came out in short panicked puffs. The strain of hot blood pumping through her veins was more than they could both handle. Her black polished nails tore at the walls; anything to help propel herself. But everything must come to an end and she could see hers coming too quickly, too soon. She couldn't run anymore and surrendered herself to the corner of her black paneled walls. Her heart was thudding out of her chest in fear, and he knew it. Oh boy, did he know it. She shut her eyes in exhaustion and slid down the wall with a soft moan, entirely helpless, with her white sundress rumpling around her tired calves. 'This is it', she realized. 'He's going to get me. I tried so hard to get away. I just wasn't fast enough this time…'

With great effort, Lydia opened her eyes a sliver just enough to see a large, strong hand protruding from a grimy black and white sleeve reaching toward her. She changed her mind and scrunched her eyes shut, trying to make herself melt into the wall that was being so unforgiving to her situation. The last thing poor Lydia heard was the low cackle from her unyielding predator.

"HAHAHAHA! Stop, stop Beej, that tickles! Hahaha! I can't breathe for cryin' out loud, cut it out!", Lydia squealed from current position on the floor.

But Beetlejuice ignored her half-hearted pleas and continued to grin like a madman and tickle her mercilessly.

"Heh heh, nope. This happens everytime, you never escape. Babes, do you honestly think that you asking me to stop is really going to solve your problem? Ya better think again Lyds."

His hands were preoccupied with tickling her arms and slowly, always so slowly, moving down to her tiny waist where they rested. Lydia on the other hand, could not for the life of her stop laughing even when she started crying at the same time. She was just so damn ticklish! She hardly noticed that Beetlejuice was starting to look at her strangely, again.

Lydia's dark, glossy hair pooled around her lovely milk-white face on the floor. Her somewhat thin, yet fleshy light pink lips were plastered into a permanent laugh at the moment, showing her tiny luminescent teeth. Every time she laughed, her head tilted back and exposed her long neck with the small bluish pulsing vein. Her soft hands were, at the moment, clenched on Beetlejuice's broad chest which seemed to burn on his cold skin. Beetlejuice's eyes roamed her giggling form down to her legs which were currently betrayed by the white sundress up around her thighs. It was too much for Beetlejuice, like always.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and with a small huff, rolled onto his heels and stood up leaving Lydia still lightly giggling on the floor. He raked his hand through his wild hair and released a sigh. Suddenly, he was dead tired. Well, as tired as a ghost could be.

"Damn Lyds, you always wear me out, ya know that?" Beetlejuice relaxed in midair, propping up his dirty combat boots on an invisible stool, his hands raking through his hair again, this time searching for a snack. "Jackpot", he released a bug from the jungle of hair and cracked it between his teeth.

"Oh my god Beej. Why. Why do you have to do that in front of me?", Lydia groaned with a shudder. Even though she's been around Beetlejuice long enough to realize that that is all that he eats for the most part, she just can't ever get used to it. Who could?

She adjusted her dress, crossed the room and jumped up onto her plump mattress that awaited her. For a while neither of them spoke and a strange tension crackled through the air. She went through what just happened only a couple of minutes ago. 'Here we go again. All I do is hang around him and suddenly he's the one backing off? Since when does the perverted ghost with the most ever check himself? Oh wait, now I remember. Never'. Lydia gave a sideways glance to Beetlejuice who was currently searching for another snack, seemingly completely oblivious to her and gave a frustrated groan. 'Ugh, is it because I'm just not fun anymore? Am I doing something wrong? We've been friends for 6 years since I've been 12. Six! And now he decides that playing games are no fun. What the hell! I'm not that old to not have fun.' A sigh. 'If only Beej knew…' In frustration she threw a smooth white arm over her eyes to block her emotions.

The whole time Lydia was churning the wheels in her pretty little head, Beetlejuice was doing some actual rusty thinking of his own. He turned his green eyes toward the beautiful girl on the bed and his stomach gave a jolt. 'Ugh, what the hell is wrong with me? Damn, what's this girl got that the other skirts I've chased haven't?' The poltergeist considered that for a split second and realized that she's got everything that the other broads completely lack. 'Well, for one, she's freaking beautiful. Heh, what a pair we make. Second', he cocked his head at each thought, 'she's always putting up with my crap and is up for anything. Lyds can't get enough of me! But, is it really just fun and games for her? Oh what the hell, of course it is. To think that a gorgeous breather like her would even think about a lousy guy – dead guy – like me just doesn't seem right.' With this final thought, he sunk lower in the air and his boots hit the ground with a muffled thud.

Lydia's head shot up with the sudden noise and threw a quick nervous smile at her favorite ghost, but faded when he didn't return the favor with his usual smirk. Instead, he stared hard at the beige carpet and didn't move a muscle. She sat up quickly and crossed over to Beetlejuice, a crease of worry in her forehead.

"Beej, what's wrong? If it's anything I've said or done, I'm sorry! It's just that…"

Lydia's panicked tone woke Beetlejuice up with a start and he stood up, towering over her frame.

"Hey babes, nothing to worry about. It's me remember? Heh heh, I was just thinking, that's all."

If those last words didn't send a warning alarm to her, then nothing would. Beej was actually thinking? 'Wow, must have been something important, that's so unlike him', Lydia thought with a tiny smile.

"Beej, hey, if you um, need to talk about anything, just spill. You can tell me anything, you know that right?"

"Oh yeah. Sure, sure." 'Well, not everything babes. Try this on for size: I'm falling for you. Hard. And for once in my afterlife, it's absolutely scaring me.' Beetlejuice gave a smirk that didn't convince Lydia in the least.

"I don't believe you, Beej. There's something you're not telling me." And if to prove her point, Beetlejuice shiftly uneasily, shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged.

"Don't know whatcha mean Lyds." He moved past her and jumped onto her bed and placed his hands behind his head, staring up at the canopy.

Lydia knew she wasn't being told something. It was Beej for crying out loud! Well, if he isn't going to tell her willingly, she was just going to have to force it out of him. Give him a little bit of his own medicine.

Beetlejuice glanced up at Lydia at the foot of the bed and was momentarily shocked when he saw her come toward him with a mischievous glint in her eye. 'Damn, I must be rubbing off on her. Hmm, that look suites her well…' She sashayed slowly up to the edge of the coverlet and positioned herself into a low crouch. Now Beetlejuice was really starting to get scared. "What the…?"

Lydia pounced.

And the battle began.

She was on top of Beetlejuice, who was still in shock, trying to tickle him to get him out of his strange funk, to lighten the mood. But she had no idea that it was doing just the opposite. Her dark hair framed her face and made her eyes look wild. She was laughing like crazy and, to get better aim, had straddled him in the process. 'Hell, let's see how he likes it!' thought Lydia with a laugh.

She didn't even get one little chuckle out of him, and she was trying so damn hard to make him squirm with laughter. Well, she was making him squirm, but definitely not with laughter. Beetlejuice was having an extremely hard time trying to keep his mouth shut and not moan. The kid doesn't know what she does to him. He never thought that he, Beetlejuice for crying out loud, would ever panic, and here he is being tickled by a girl and is freaking out about it. 'Damn it all, this isn't right! She's just a freaking kid! Okay, she's an adult, but...' and with that thought Beetlejuice disappeared from underneath Lydia, making her fall to the mattress with a squeak.

She frantically looked all around the room for him. "Beej?! What did I, um, where, what…?" Her racing eyes rested on her ceiling above her dresser. There Beetlejuice literally clung to the plaster with his grim fingernails, his chest working up an extreme effort to get oxygen, although being dead he didn't need it.

Lydia had had enough with all of the secrecy and odd behavior. "Damn it Beej, what the hell are you doing up there?! What the hell is going on and why the hell are you acting so damn weird?! Or, weirder?" Her eyes flashed and she gave an irritating flick to her hair, waiting for his response. He floated down until his combat boots touched the floor, never taking his gaze off of her. He stood there for about a minute with his hands clenching and unclenching and his weight shifting, as if he wanted to take a step.

'Just tell her dammit! It can't be the worst thing. Oh hell, but what if she's disgusted by the whole idea and never wants anything to do with me again? Well, I wouldn't be surprised. But, oh god, I couldn't live without her. But she has a right to know. Here goes…'

He took a nervous step toward her that sent Lydia over the edge. She threw her hands up in utter frustration and stared at Beetlejuice incredulously. "What? What is the matter? This isn't like you Beej and to be honest, it's really starting to freak me out. I mean, you never used to act this way around me. What's changed? Is it me? Oh god", Lydia choked in a small voice, "oh god. You, you don't want to be around me anymore. That's it, isn't it? Oh god, whatever I did I swear I'm sorry and I'll never do it again if things could just go back to normal and I…" But she never finished that sentence.

Beetlejuice crossed the space between them and crushed his lips to hers, wrapping his strong arms around her tiny waist. Lydia gasped in complete surprise, not expecting this, and pulled away quickly.

"Beej, I…"

"No, don't Lyds. I, I'm sorry." He pulled on his wild hair and let out a loud frustrated groan and paced the room, muttering swear words. "Dammit, I just can't take it anymore! Lyds, I, I have to tell you."

Lydia was still trying to recover her breath. It had been knocked out of her by Beetlejuice's actions and replaced by madly fluttering butterflies. But all of her feelings made sense to her in a way. Beetlejuice is her life and will always be her life. He gave her what she needed more than he will ever now. She never even comprehended what she felt for the ghost until he kissed her and now she was starting to get anxious. Her cool hands went immediately to her face to calm the burning flesh that had started to heat up.

"What is it? What, what do you need to tell me?" Her voice caught in her throat.

Beetlejuice dropped his hands to his sides and looked her straight into her dark brown eyes, brimming with tears. 'Oh god, now I've really done it. I've pushed over the limit, but since I'm this far over, I might as well get it over with.' With a sigh, he closed his eyes, and tried to regain his composer, but he couldn't. He couldn't remember in his whole life and afterlife when he'd ever been so unconfident. He berated himself for being such a love struck coward. Trying to start again, Beetlejuice drew in a trembling breath that shook his whole body.

Lydia watched Beetlejuice go through an innumerable amount of emotions. And to say it shocked her was an understatement. Beetlejuice was clearly so out of his element, that it touched Lydia's heart so much that it made her smile.

She walked to him slowly and reached out her hands towards his handsome face. The feel of her soft flesh on him sent a shockwave through his entire body, snapping him out of his trance. His eyes opened in an instant and saw Lyds smiling at him. 'Why is she smiling? I haven't said a smartass comment, have I?' He gulped with uncertainty which made her smile even wider.

Slowly, nervously she snaked her arms around his neck and held him close, not sure what else to do. "Beej, you don't have to say anything."

"Wha-, um..," He gulped again, not sure that Lyds wasn't trying to trick him.

"I know what's going on." She gave a nervous chuckle and forced herself to continue. "I, um, fell for you a long time ago Beej. And, well, if that kiss was a sign, then I would say that the feeling is mutual." At this brave statement she pulled back a little to read his expression which, at the moment, was staring at her in what she thought was disbelief. "Um, of course if it isn't like that at all, then, um…" For the second time that night she didn't get to finish her sentence.

Beetlejuice snaked his hands into her glossy tresses and kissed her with such passion that they both succumbed to what felt like little sparks popping on their skin. Beetlejuice had never been so thrilled/relieved/happy in his entire existence. The one girl, I mean woman, that he has ever loved loves him in return. And this is Beetlejuice we're talking about here! He didn't think that he would ever be so lucky as to even have someone to love and yet love him in return. It was all he could do to not literally burst out of his skin.

Their lips moved effortlessly against one another's and their breathing grew increasingly rapid. Beetlejuice had locked his Lyds in a vice grip against his chest and hell, she didn't mind one bit! She wasn't even thinking at the moment, but let her body do all the talking. Every fiber of her being felt like it was doused in ice water then set on a blazing fire. It left her breathless. Not to mention the fact that she was in love with a sexy poltergeist. Yeah, that doesn't help much with trying to breathe.

But all too soon Beetlejuice pulled away and Lydia let a sigh escape. Beetlejuice chuckled in return. He cocked his head and looked at Lydia with an ever-familiar gleam in his eyes and an arrogant smirk that instantly brought a grin to her flushed face. "So babes, about that tickle fight…"

~The End~

*Author's note: I hoped everyone like my first fic! If you would be so kind as to review and let me know what you thought, that would be amazing. Every critique is welcome! ~QueenOfTheBrassQuill