It's Showtime Chapter 2: Hello There, a beetlejuice fanfic

It's Showtime : Hello There

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad that you guys all liked it. Here we are, chapter two! Read and Review!

"Betelgeuse?"

It was beautiful. No. That wasn't the right word. Gorgeous. Sexy. Timeless. That was it. Timeless. Watching Lydia's brown eyes widen, her lips sighing his name, it was enough to drive any man, dead or alive, insane.

He growled and hovered closer, his nose almost entering the hot spotlight beam. She was so close, so scared, so breathless... it was making the dusty poltergeist dizzy. He couldn't believe he had forgotten just how good this felt...

BOOM!

The noise alone set Betelgeuse flying backwards, his face paler than usual. Smoke and fire erupted, engulfing his ticket to freedom. Those big brown eyes and ruby red lips were swallowed up by the smoke and flames.

"No!" He reached, but even if he had gotten to her, he could not have saved her. The fire flickered through his hands as he heard her take a sharp gasp right before she... disappeared. "Fuck."

He flinched at the roar of applause behind him. Luminous green eyes glared at audience as they cheered and stood.

"Let's start the show!"

Wait a minute...

The smoke was beginning to clear, and it revealed a door. A closed trapdoor. Betelgeuse wanted to let out such a blood-curdling scream that everyone in the auditorium's hair would turn white. Brat.

He had gotten worked up over a damned prank.

"No one pulls the sheets over my eyes. Especially not some kid."

Snarling, Betelgeuse sank into the floor with one person on his mind.

"Betelgeuse?"

The spotlights were paralyzing. Lydia stared at the wild poltergeist. He must be fake. She couldn't close her eyes. He can't possibly be here. I only said his name once! But... after the name floated into the air, the dust swirling around it, he grinned at her and she knew that he was as real as he was four years ago.

He was drifting closer. Lydia could see the smoldering fire of sin in his eyes as his lips pulled back, revealing his teeth.

Lydia's lips fell open, and for what seemed like an eternity, she felt alone and... utterly helpless.

BOOM!

In a flash of smoke, Lydia was plunged into darkness. Her eyes were wide when her brain struggled to pick up the pace and tell her body to get moving.

She ran. As her boots clicked against the cold concrete of the basement floor, her nimble fingers quickly unbuttoned her suit-jacket. Her traitorous imagination began to prompt her with wild growls and slimy hands reaching for her.

With a sharp cry, Lydia Deetz burst through the door to the stairwell. The bright white walls made her squint, but she welcomed the light. Panting, Lydia turned at stared at the window to the basement. Waiting.

Thirty seconds passed.

One minute.

Three minutes.

It was just your stupid imagination, Lydia. He's gone. He's probably scaring some other family. He probably doesn't even remember your name.

Lydia turned to walk up the stairs. Her face hit soft material. Black and white stripes.

No...

"Miss me, babes?"

III

Dark eyes glittered when the curtains opened and the lights turned on. The black and white stripes caused a serpent-like tongue to run over dry lips.

She knows him.

Lydia Deetz walked down the catwalk. Her blood-red lips pulled back into a feral grin.

She's seen him.

"It's Showtime!"

Oh yes. We've found her! The dark lips pulled back into a wolfish grin. We've found the connection to our poltergeist.

Smiling down at the flustered teen, Betelgeuse thought about how it couldn't have gone any better. He had been waiting for this moment for three and a half years. The poltergeist expected pleads, tears, and frantic apologies. Judging by her breathing patters and how terrified she was running away, she must still be afraid of him.

"What are you doing here?" Betelgeuse almost fell out of the air. "I didn't say your name three times. Who did?"

Betelgeuse was not one who stammered, but at that moment he felt like he should. Why is she so calm? She was freakin' out just a moment ago!

"Since when are you this composed?"

"Since you were eaten by a sandworm." If Betelgeuse had any blood left in his face, it surely would have gone running at that horrid memory. He shrunk away from the dratted teenager, shaking. "Hey, are you okay?"

Her hand reached out to touch his shoulder. In the back of his mind, Betelgeuse knew he should have moved away, but his temporary paralysis had him frozen. Her warm hand went to his shoulder and proceed to move through it.

"Shit."

Lydia's pale face turned even more white. Her lips fell open as she moved backwards, falling down and landing halfway on a stair. She hissed, tears of pain springing up to her dark chocolate eyes.

Betelgeuse grimaced. She wasn't supposed to find out that he was just a projection. Lydia rubbed her back as she clutched the suit-jacket to her chest, her eyes never leaving his.

"H-Have you been... e-exorcized?"

The poltergeist let out a snort.

"No. Christ, no. If I had been, babes, I wouldn't be here talkin' to you, that's for sure."

"Jesus..." Lydia had her hand over her heart, her eyes wide. Things were not going the way Betelgeuse had planned. "You scared me, Betelgeuse."

Twice. Her voice saying his name a second time felt so good that Betelgeuse almost let out a low moan. Almost.

You scared me, Betelgeuse.

Betelgeuse would have been furious if he wasn't so astonished. Why the fuck would she be scared for him? Not of him, but for him. No one had ever been scared for him. No one.

Silence fell over them. The statement hung in the air like the guillotine's blade right before it falls. Betelgeuse opened his mouth, but Lydia beat him to it.

"Betelgeuse."

When Lydia thought back to this moment, she could not say why she said his name. She had been sitting on the floor, shivering in her white tank top, and her striped pant legs sprawled out on the cold concrete. She saw Betelgeuse's green eyes widen as he disappeared.

He came back with a vengeance, grinning as he flexed his arms out. Lydia was never one to openly respect "hot" guys. When asked, she'd say that anyone could look good, but a select few could truly mix confidence, insanity, and sexiness together to make Lydia look twice.

That's why she was speechless when Betelgeuse returned in his full glory. His wild hair, glowing eyes, and sinful grin was more than enough to be considered compelling. She had only read about people like him. Actors would sell their very souls to capture his... raw passion that he displayed in those short seconds.

"Yes!" He jumped up and down like a child, snapping Lydia out of her thoughts. Betelgeuse grinned at her, his one arm growing longer to snag her hand, yanking her onto her feet. "You're the greatest, babes!"

Without warning or any sort of gradual onset, Betelgeuse swept Lydia up into a back-cracking bear hug. Lydia wheezed, her arms hanging limply at her sides. Still giggling gleefully, the poltergeist planted a large, wet kiss on her cheek.

Lydia was released, her head spinning. She smiled slightly.

"You haven't changed one bit."

Betelgeuse smirked, his mouth opening.

Wham, wham, wham!

"Lydia! Are you in there?" The two beings looked up to the door to the backstage. Mrs. Potter's voice was slightly muffled behind the door. "Lydia, there is someone here who would like to see you."

Lydia's brown eyes drifted back down to Betelgeuse. Tell me about it. Her smile slowly dissolved. She watched as Betelgeuse's face fell with realization.

"Betelgeuse."

"Wait, come on, I just got here—!"

"Betelgeuse."

"Please, I just wanted to talk, Lydia—"

"Betelgeuse."

The last repetition had Lydia breathless. He had said her name. Trembling, Lydia began to climb the stairs, her hands gripping her jacket tightly as goose-bumps rippled across her skin. He remembered me...

She swung the door open to see Mrs. Potter staring at her with a look of utter exasperation.

"What happened?"

"I tripped."

Mrs. Potter, who was only half listening to begin with, grabbed her student's hand and whisked her down the hallway to the dressing rooms. Lydia had time to blink three times before she arrived at the feet of the tallest woman she had ever laid eyes on.

"Lydia Deetz?" A thick French accent laced the woman's voice. Her dark eyes fluttered over her half-dressed body, her lips twitching into a regal smile. "My name is Michelle Rykiel, adopted daughter of Sonia Rykiel."

Mrs. Potter swayed on her feet while Lydia's mouth fell open.

"The Sonia Rykiel?" The tall woman, Michelle, nodded. "Oh, God... it's a p-pleasure to meet you, madame."

Michelle smiled as warmly a tall, skinny, and chic woman could without wrinkling her face too much.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lydia." She extended her large, slender hand forward, her manicured nails gleaming in the dim light like enticing beacons. "Can we talk about your designs? I've got a few ideas that I'd love to share with you, ma ami."

Lydia took the hand into her's, shaking it briskly.

"Of course."

Mrs. Potter stared after her student that was currently being led down the hallway by the wispy woman, daughter of famous French designer, Sonia Rykiel.

"Lydia, to be blunt, your suit entices me." Michelle's fingers clicked together. "I've been trying to develop my masterpiece, and it turns out that you've 'beaten me to it', so to speak."

Lydia turned red, running her fingers over the suit-jacket. Betelgeuse's suit-jacket.

"Ma'am—"

"Please, let me finish." Michelle closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. "I loved your work tonight... but the models were... amateurs." Her nails tightened their grip on Lydia's shoulder. "Come with me to New York, Lydia. Come with me. We'll design clothes together, Lydia."

"Together," echoed Lydia, "you and me?"

"Forever, Lydia. You're the most promising teenager I've ever seen."

Lydia swooned under the elvish woman's eerie gaze. It was too much.

"This must be some sort of prank—"

"No pranks, Lydia." Michelle's deep, dark eyes seemed to be pulling Lydia closer. Her voice was so low, enticing her to move forward. Lydia was mesmerized. "I'm going to give you my phone number."

The aspiring designer and photographer blinked dreamily.

"For what?"

"To call me. To call me when you're ready."

A paper pressed itself into Lydia's hand. Her long fingers closed around it, her eyes never leaving Michelle's.

"Thank you."

"Like I said before, Lydia, the pleasure is all mine."

Michelle Rykiel faded away into the shadow like the ethereal spirit she was. Lydia was left alone in the darkened school hallway, her hands shaking, squashing the paper in her fist.

VII

Betelgeuse sputtered, arriving back in his house in a flurry of papers. His head dropped with frustration. She's not afraid of me... she even had the balls to summon me...

But she sent you back.

He had never really had the need to hope. Either it was going to happen, or it wasn't. Silly thoughts ever helped anyone.

So what's next?

The poltergeist sighed, sitting down wearily. He stared at the mirror hanging just outside his bathroom wall.

That's it...

VIII

Lydia was in a daze the entire drive home. She drove with the window open, letting the cool night air wash over her. The moon watched as Lydia Deetz stopped the car and shut off all the lights, allowing the darkness to embrace her.

"We've come for your daughter, Chuck."

He had been so terrifying. He was unhinged, had no morals, and would do anything to get what we wanted.

But he didn't break a promise. His promise to save Adam and Barbara. It had cost Lydia her life, for it had been determined to be bound to him. It was worth it... as long as they were safe... it was worth being marred to him.

They didn't get married. He saved the Maitlands, and in return he got to be dinner for a sandworm. If it had been another time, another place... Lydia would have called it a "dirty deal."

She had, however, been young and selfish. Now... seeing him again, made her edgy and shameful. It took every bit of will in her body to keep eye contact with him. They had made a promise.

He kept his end.

She hadn't.

The suit lay in the trunk. He has caused so much to happen. Her fear of the dark, her suit being made, the encore of her fashion show... and the most lucrative offer of a lifetime falling into her hands... they were all because of Betelgeuse.

Easing herself out of the car, Lydia walked stiffly up to the house. She opened the door to see crowds of people, all friends of Delia.

Sighing, Lydia ignored them all and walked upstairs. She found a note taped to her door.

Lydia, we're in a meeting with Juno. We'll see you tomorrow. We love you! Adam and Barbara.

Relief flooded her body. She needed to be alone, she needed space, and as much as she loved the Maitlands, they would smother her until she snapped. Tonight, she couldn't handle that.

She kicked off her pants, shimming her underwear down her legs. Pulling her shirt over her head and unclasping her bra, Lydia walked past her mirror naked to closet. Lydia took a black satin nightgown off of the rack and tugged it on.

Smiling at her bare feet, she wiggled her toes.

"Nice dress, babes."

Betelgeuse's hands gripped his white porcelain sink tightly. He felt his power fluctuate. Easy, boy. We don't want to break anything. Locking eyes with his reflection, the bio-exorcist began to concentrate.

Images of people brushing their teeth, kissing, changing, and having sex filled his eyes. His knuckles turned white as he honed on in on Lydia. The rush of pictures ceased when he found her dark room glittering with beams of moonlight.

Almost immediately after he arrived, a naked goddess floated across the floor. The silver moonbeams made her skin glow. It was such a sight that Betelgeuse didn't even have the time to fully enjoy it, she vanished so fast.

Blinking, Betelgeuse realized that he must have locked on to the wrong girl. Closing his eyes, he double-checked.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the same woman dressed in a shimmering black gown that ended just below her knees. She couldn't have known how swell she looked. Lydia developed quite gracefully.

"Nice dress, babes."

He grinned when she jumped.

"Did you watch me change?"

"Of course not." He let a lecherous grin stain his face. Lydia rolled her eyes, not knowing whether or not to believe him. "So, are we gonna talk, or what?"

"About what?"

Raising his eyebrow, Betelgeuse decided to play his trump card.

"First off, how about the fact that you were wearing my suit in your little fashion show?"

Lydia's face transformed from sure and calm to open and anxious.

"Sh! Okay." She looked away from the mirror, almost guiltily. "We can't talk here." She sighed, running her hand through her cascading black hair. "If Adam and Barbara saw you here..."

The poltergeist scoffed.

"Forget them, babes."

Sending a glare that could curl hair, Lydia turned away from the mirror.

"I'll be a few minutes." She was tearing the sheets off of her bed, tying them together. Betelgeuse smiled at the age-old act of escaping from one's room. "Will you give me that, B?"

His new nickname startled him at first. Quickly recovering, Betelgeuse shrugged even through she wasn't looking.

"As long as you keep your promise this time."

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I really, REALLY appreciate them, so don't be afraid to leave them. Be honest. I love constructive criticism. Was everybody in character? The LAST thing I want is for Betelgeuse to be OOC. Yick. Well, please review. I'll give you... brownies!

-mia

p.s. Sonia Rykiel is a famous French fashion designer who is still alive today. She's in her seventies. I don't own her, and as far as I know, her adopted daughter is fictional. Oh, and I don't own Beetlejuice characters either, but that should be obvious.