Hey guys!

Pocket has done it. Officially, these characters are no longer 'in' character. They are all officially off the deep (yet far more interesting) end. And Pocket hopes you will stick around to see the conclusion. Just a few more chapters. Pocket shall make it well worth your time. Pocket does not own Beetlejuice. this makes Pocket sad...

Already two weeks… that's how long it had been since the last time Lydia called Beetlejuice to save her from that creep. Two whole weeks without a single word. The ghost wasn't even hungry. His neighbors even started worrying about him. Jacques, the skeleton that lived a few doors down, began checking up on Beetlejuice, but, there was never any change in the ghost. He just sat there on his couch day after day, zoned out. Jacques even took it upon himself to bring food to Beetlejuice, but after three days of full plates remaining full, he gave up.

Beetlejuice wasn't upset, exactly, he just didn't know what to do with himself. He wanted to see Lydia, but was afraid of how awkward things might be. Why on earth did he ever kiss her? Furthermore, why on earth did she kiss back? She wasn't old enough for him and he wasn't… ahem… alive enough for her.

Sure, Beetlejuice had had flings before. There were a ton of beautiful women in the Netherworld, but he'd never actually been attached to any of those women. They were just flings. Unimportant people he'd never see again - that's all they were. And, Beetlejuice didn't want to see them again.

To be honest, with each of those random women, he'd pretend they were Lydia. He'd be with those random women, most of which didn't have memorable names, and wonder what it would be like if they were Lydia. He'd been wrong for the most part. He knew Lydia had warm, soft skin, but all women he'd been with had cold, hard flesh. Some had skin so brittle he couldn't be too rough with them. He hated being careful. Of course, there was that one woman… she had bright red hair and green-ish skin… she had committed suicide. She was wild, and coming from someone like Beetlejuice, that's saying something. She liked ropes. And knifes. And dogs.

But not one of those experiences could even slightly compare to Lydia. Just thinking about her body against his sent a shiver down his back. Beetlejuice took in a deep breath and sighed it out. He really had to go see her. He'd use all his self control and will power to make sure he didn't do anything like that with her again. He had to know what she was thinking. He had to know if she felt the same way he did - either the relationship would work out (in some weird, awkward way), or they would ignore it and go back to being just friends.

Finally, after a few days of thinking about it, Beetlejuice pulled himself from the couch and floated towards the mirror. There was no curtain. That's a good start. There was also no Lydia. There went the good start. He glanced around the room. It looked a little different… something was missing… he looked towards the nightstand. 4:30pm. Lydia should be home soo… wait. That's not the right clock. What happened to the Dracula clock? In fact, where was anything Beetlejuice had given Lydia? Even his picture was missing. What was wrong with that crazy girl?

"I'll just hang out here for a little while…" Beetlejuice said to himself. It's not like he had anything better to do. And, he wanted to talk to Lydia right away. Maybe he had done something wrong? Maybe he waited too long to talk to her… maybe she was mad he didn't stick around in her mirror after she sent him back. That girl was so difficult to understand.

Amidst his contemplation, Beetlejuice almost didn't notice Lydia's bedroom door opening. He gasped and ducked down, knowing it couldn't be Lydia. She always ran into the room. It was probably Delia, Lydia's step-mother. If that was the case, she wouldn't notice him. Beetlejuice peeked his eyes up.

There was a small shape huddled on the bed. Beetlejuice's mouth fell open. It was Lydia, only she wasn't in her normal clothes. Nor was her hair done up in her usual style. Lydia was sitting on her bed in something light colored… it was a pink-ish color. The shirt showed her midriff and the skirt came to the middle of her thighs. Lydia had her hair brushed differently, with side-swept bangs. And, she was wearing light make-up. She didn't look so beautifully pale… she looked like she had a fake tan.

"Whoa, babes. I leave you alone for a few days and you turn into a Claire look-alike."

Lydia gasped and jumped up. She started shielding herself with her arms. She wasn't looking at the mirror at Beetlejuice, but the floor instead. The girl started chewing on the inside of her bottom lip. Beetlejuice frowned, wanting desperately to reach out and hug her. But, he couldn't do that if she didn't call him out. He didn't like talking to her from the Netherworld side of the mirror. It was liking talking to someone through an invisible door.

"Where ya been, babes?" Beetlejuice said, trying to make conversation. He was afraid she'd toss a shirt over the mirror again. It seemed that's what she was planning.

"I could ask you the same thing." Lydia said, her left hand moving to grab her right arm, continuing to shield herself from him.

Beetlejuice felt a twinge of guilt radiating from the pit of his stomach. He pursed his lips for a second, trying to come up with something to say, the leaned against the side of the mirror. He crossed his arms over his chest, his turn to shield himself from Lydia.

"You coulda called me at any time, Lyds." Beetlejuice retorted. He was going to hold his ground.

"You could have checked on me at any time, too." Lydia responded in a tone so sharp, it cut through Beetlejuice's heart. Lydia then threw herself on her bed and hid her face in her pillows. Now, more than ever, Beetlejuice wanted to reach out and touch her. He was never really any good at this kind of stuff. He didn't really know how to make people feel better. So, he did the only logical thing he could come up with - continue the conversation.

"What happened to your room? Where's all the stuff I got you?"

"mm..naïf… rew..garb…aer.." Lydia mumbled into her pillows

"Huh?"

"I got rid of your stupid junk." Lydia turned her head long enough to bark at Beetlejuice then went back to her pillow. Beetlejuice was hurt but, he'd never let it show. He frowned and cleared his throat, then was right back to himself.

"Oh. Then, what happened to your clothes? You look stupid."

Lydia gave another muffled response, Beetlejuice was jut a bit more polite this time, specifying he couldn't understand her when she spoke into the pillows, to which she responded, "My boyfriend likes when I look like this."

Beetlejuice flinched, getting cut once again. He started twiddling his fingers a bit, not entirely sure of what to do or say now. He could just leave, but then Lydia would never forgive him. Still, that felt like a really good idea right now. He could survive without her. He was already dead - what was the worst that could happen? But, he just cared too much about her. This 'boyfriend' was trying to change her. That did no set well with Beetlejuice.

"What boyfriend?"

Lydia took a second, like she was about to talk into the pillows but changed her mind, then sat up. Her eyes were a little red and puffy and her cheeks flushed. She sniffled, rubbing her eyes, then took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Though I know I should be wary…" Lydia started, getting from her bed and closing the curtains so no one would see. "still, I summon someone scary." the girl stood out of the way so she could summon the ghost. "Ghostly haunting I turn loose - Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. BEETLJUICE!"

Beetlejuice was pulled from the mirror, giving his screeching chuckle as he landed in the center of Lydia's bedroom. It was the best part of being Lydia's friend - he could get out of the Netherworld. But, he quickly remembered Lydia was upset. He turned and dropped his arms around the girl's small shoulders, pulling her in a tight embrace.

"Now. Talk." Beetlejuice said, leading Lydia to the bed to sit down.

Lydia's face started twisting into a frown. She hid her face in her hands and started sniffling. The ghost had no idea how to comfort her, so he just rested his arm over the poor girl's shoulders, waiting for her to calm herself down. Which, Lydia did, slowly. She leaned into Beetlejuice and sighed, regaining her composure. The make-up she had on was completely ruined, the eyeliner smudged on either side of her face. She looked like a complete wreck. Yet, Beetlejuice thought she was absolutely beautiful.

Finally, Lydia took a deep breath and opened her mouth, "That boy you tossed out my window, Danny… he apologized for being a jerk. And then he took me out to eat at this really nice restaurant. And he was so nice to me…"

"Lyds, stop. You can't be serious."

Lydia stood up, obviously offended. She crossed her arms and walked to the other side of the room, keeping her back to her ghostly friend. "Well, it's not like I had anyone to talk to about it. Bertha and Prudence both like him and he's the only guy alive who has ever looked at me like that."

Beetlejuice was a little hurt by the "alive" part of her argument. He looked at her like that all the time. But of course, he wasn't alive. He was dead. He was stupid to think Lydia would ever like him like that. What an idiot. But, Lydia wasn't any better for dating that joke just because he had a pulse.

Beetlejuice laid back on Lydia's bed, using his hands as pillows behind his head. Lydia walked around the room, half-heartedly pacing. Ok, so she really didn't like dead guys. That's fine. They'd be stuck for eternity, anyway. And there was always that blue chick. He could survive with that. Not that a dead person really has to survive.

Lydia sighed and walked towards the bed. She flopped down on her back next to the ghost and rested her arms over her eyes, blocking out the light. She mumbled something Beetlejuice couldn't understand then sighed noisily. Beetlejuice glanced over at her, but felt naughty thoughts creep through his mind so he closed his eyes and ignored her.

"I put all your stuff under my bed. Danny's been spending a lot of time over here. He thought it was weird. And I didn't want to explain who the guy in all my pictures of you was. He doesn't believe in an afterlife. He'd just think I was crazy."

"How did you explain him getting tossed out your window on to a talking mattress then?" Beetlejuice asked without opening his eyes.

"He thinks he fell out when he first left and hit his head."

"What do you even see in him?" Beetlejuice asked in a peevish tone. He sat up and juiced away from the bed towards the window Lydia had just closed. He took a peek out, checking for anyone looking, then opened the curtains. Every now and then sunlight felt really good. Though, Beetlejuice made a spectacle of how bright the sun was.

"The same could be asked about what I see in you, Beej."

Beetlejuice looked back at Lydia. She was now huddled up on the bed. She looked so tiny and fragile. She was right, of course. Not many people even tolerated him, let alone liked him. He was gross, made bad jokes, almost all of which were puns, and was rude. But that's just how he was. It didn't matter to him other people didn't like him. Lydia did. That was enough. But now… it seemed like even Lydia had her issues with him. Maybe he was just too childish.

That's when the idea struck him. Maybe now… it would kill two birds with one stone. He could find out her feelings and convince her to get rid of that fat-boy. Beetlejuice licked his lips and took a deep breath.

"But, Lydia, I… I love you."