Beetlejuice doesn't belong to me. If you want to split hairs, I don't know exactly who he belongs to… Tim Burton, The Geffen Film Company, whoever wrote the myriad of scripts… (Probably not that last.) It's all legal techno-babble to me, and I don't know much about that stuff. I do know enough not to claim he's mine, or try to make money off him, or I'm screwed. Which sucks. I mean, who wouldn't want to make a living doing what they love? But I guess I should just be grateful I can do it at all… Where would I be, if I couldn't? …Probably doing it anyway, but if anyone asks, I'll deny it. You'll vouch for me, right?

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Heh, this is it, the last chapter in this fic... Am I evil, or what? I do want to continue it with a new fic, presented a little less than a year later. Man, but I'm getting exhausted! That being said... Okay, I loved my last chapter, so of course I'm conflicted about this one. That's how it works. Plus... Man, last chapters are harder than first chapters! I mean, that's where I'm going to leave you hanging... It better be good, if I want you to read the next one! And then that being said... I really do want to write the next one... I just might need a little break, first.

Forgive me?

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In her excitement, Lydia took the stairs two at a time, expertly finding each step with her nimble feet… Until she miscalculated how many were left, reached for a stair that wasn't there, and stumbled. Adam, not even looking up from his latest project, expanding the library, chastised her gently, saying, "Now Lydia, stop that. If you go and break your neck, who's going to pick up those paints I need today?" When he finally did look up at her though, he was smiling… Obviously Barbara hadn't shared her knowledge about Lydia's little secret expedition the night before.

Come to think of it, it really was falling into an 'every parent for themselves' kind of thing, where it came to raising the trouble-making goth girl. God help her if they ever put their heads together… They'd figure out what she was up to in a second! Lydia just grinned at him wildly, the utterly uninhibited grin of a child waking up on Christmas morning, and gave him a brief hug as she ran past, ducking into the kitchen. Adam watched after her vanished form with a bemused smile… There really was no keeping track of that girl's moods.

Barbara made a sound of surprise as Lydia attacked her from behind, giving her a good, solid squeeze, before snatching the pile of pancakes from the counter, syrup pitcher grasped firmly in her other hand. Her godmother considered her with a momentarily baffled glance, before suddenly she laughed too, quickly understanding. "That," She noted smugly, pointing to her goddaughter's sweetly curved mouth, "Is the smile of a young woman in love." Lydia just beamed back happily. "So…" She took a seat, and slid her chair closer to Lydia's, conspiratorially, "When do I get to meet him?"

Lydia almost choked on her first bite of pancake, taking a little longer than necessary to clear her airways, before fixing Barbara with the most innocent look she could summon. "I don't know what you're talking about." She lied to the ghost woman's face, without batting an eye. How much easier it was to lie, when the both of themknew she was lying…

"Uh-huh." Her lips curved prettily, in a knowing way, as she stood, dropping a light kiss to her goddaughter's head. "Well, that's fine for now, honey… But sooner or later, we are going to meet him. Promise me, sweetie."

She couldn't help her grimace, but she showed her teeth through it, so that it could almost be taken as something like a pleasant expression. "I promise you'll meet him," She agreed, resigned to her secret coming out sooner or later, "I'm just going to put it off as long as possible, that's all." There, honesty. A pause, then more pleadingly, "You won't tell anyone… Not even Adam?"

Barbara lifted her hand like a girl scout, which she had probably been at some point, and agreed with feigned seriousness, "I solemnly swear." Then, she spoiled this by grinning, in that trusting way she had, a woman who wouldn't think bad of anyone… Almost anyone… And turned to get her something to drink. "Orange juice, or milk?"

"Mm, orange juice!" Half of Lydia's meal was already shoved down her throat, with little pause for chewing, but once again Barbara seemed to understand completely, just fixing her with a knowing little look of amusement. Lydia swallowed, and stuck out her tongue.

"You watch it, young lady." Barbara warned her, setting the glass down in front of her goddaughter. "You're not too old for me to lift you in the air, and keep you there."

"Thanks, Barb." Like her pancakes, the orange juice disappeared almost before she could taste it, and then she shoved herself to her feet, ready to get out and get going… Then paused, taking in the ghost woman's absent stare. She wondered suddenly just why she was getting off so easily… True, better not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but… Was something bothering her friend? "Barb?"

Her godmother blinked, briefly off in a world of her own, then looked back at Lydia, as if surprised to still find her there. "What is it, honey?"

Lydia considered her at length, weighing her instinct to just leave sleeping dogs lie, with the sudden sense that something was wrong. Lydia didn't say a word though, the stare-off just extending between the two of them for an extended moment, before Barbara finally sighed, and took her seat again. "Look, I don't want you worrying about this." She said softly. "I don't know what's going on between your mother and Edmond, but they'll work it out, I'm sure of it.

There it was again. Your mother and Edmond. As if he was being, slid to the side, as… Not one of them anymore. Lydia's heart struggled with conflicting emotions… The need to find Beetlejuice, and share her recent revelations… and the need to know what was happening in her family. "Is it bad?" She asked at last, very softly.

The anger that flickered across Barbara's face, the sudden frustrated set to her mouth, she didn't expect either one. "They're both acting like children!" She muttered, more harshly than anything Lydia had ever heard come out of that sweet-spoken mouth before. "Edmond's acting like he was scolded in front of the class, brooding and quiet, not willing to talk anything out… And Olivia's being more stubborn than usual, pretending nothing's wrong at all! Except for the fact that she suddenly treats her husband like a total stranger…"

Despite the fact that the words had all rushed out so fast, with such frustration, now she broke off suddenly, looking horrified at her own words. "Lydia…" She murmured softly, apologetically, "You know I have nothing but the utmost respect for your parents." She paused briefly, searching for an explanation. "It's just that nothing's ever gone wrong in their marriage before, and now neither one of them seems to have a clue how to deal with it."

Okay, that made sense… Sort of… But it did leave her with one question. "What, exactly, went wrong?" God, she hoped it wasn't some kind of sex thing… She was not that open minded.

Barbara's mouth firmed again, as if this were really what she didn't want to discuss. "I think Edmond has a, problem, with death, that he's never admitted before. He expected your mother to give ground, like she usually does…" Her fingers flicked in a way that didn't even try to explain that. "But instead she seems to have taken it as a personal slight against her. There's just, hurt feelings all around." A pause, then, with some sense of irritation, "I swear, sometimes I think you're the adult here, Lydia. Most of the time you act more mature than either one of them!"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Barbara's words made her smile. God only knew how many times she'd thought just the same thing herself… "Right," She agreed, hoping to inject some levity into the situation. "Because I'm the poster girl for calm and rational thinking."

The ghost woman paused at Lydia's words, and her eyes met the goth girl's for about the length of a breath… And then they both started laughing. "You're just going to have to deal with being the grown-up in the family," Lydia teased her, when the giggling trailed away, "God knows you've had enough practice!" Then before her godmother's good mood could wear off, she wrapped Barbara in a deep embrace, before pushing her back at arm's length, lips rueful. "You know how stubborn my parents can be. Just give it time, and try not to worry yourself into your second death over it."

"Hmm." Barb gave her arm a little squeeze, looking calmer. "Thanks, sweetie. I needed to hear that… I feel better now." And Lydia, who could normally lie to a nun without giving herself away, suddenly realized that she didn't have a damn clue when the people she was closest to, were lying right back to her…

But it wasn't something she wanted to dwell on, not now, so for the moment, she let herself believe the lie. She had her own love life to think of… And there was nothing she could do about that of her parents'. So she was willing to leave her worries for another time. "I'm going out!" She said to Barbara, feigning her own qualms resolved, and left before Barb could press any more questions about her 'secret guy.' She knew damn well that was the last thing any of them needed to worry about at the moment…

Adam glanced up as she entered, and looked mildly alarmed as she streaked past him, using his ghostly powers to briefly lift her feet from the floor… The most he really ever did with them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Where's the fire? I told you I need you to pick me up some new paints!" Lydia cast him an impatient grimace, eager to be off, but there really was no arguing with someone who had superpowers… Well, except maybe Beetlejuice, but that was just because it was fun.

He pressed two empty bottles into her hand, a sort of brick red, and the god-awful lemon yellow she recognized from the new paintjob downtown. "Two of each, if you please." He pressed a twenty into her hand, she'd never bothered to ask where he got the money. "And hurry back! I can't do a thing with the entire eastern end of downtown until you get me these paints!"

"I'd tell you to get a hobby," Lydia informed him dryly, as her feet touched the ground again, "But that's really the problem, isn't it?" She eyed the bottle disdainfully. "Shit, can't you at least use creative license with the colors? That yellow is going to make my eyes bleed, if I have to stare at it!"

"You never used to use language like that…" Adam muttered, completely ignoring her question, and walking past the girl without another glance. "Barb? Have you seen my flat-edge brushes?"

Lydia decided to take her chance, and high-tail it out of there… Before anyone got it in their head to ask her anything else. After all, she'd just had the epiphany of her young life, and goddamnit if she wasn't going to act on it before she had a chance to get cold feet…

After all, Beetlejuice was waiting… She hoped.

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He'd been wandering around downtown for the better part of an hour, aimlessly, more or less killing time, but now his steps had purpose. Lyds was somewhere close by, and he was already eager to resume the conversation that had been interrupted before. He knew his charms couldn't have been completely lost on any woman, Lydia included. The fact that she was willing to give him a second chance, after that nasty little incident in New York, just indicated to him that she was already softening towards the idea… A clear victory in his book.

So yes, maybe he couldn't get that wide, cat that ate the canary grin off his face, and he considered people pleasantly that just gave him odd looks in return. Even waved to a few, feeling positively friendly, and ignoring when they didn't wave back. He paused at one point to check his reflection in a store window- forgetting briefly that he didn't have one in this world- and stared a bit puzzledly at where it should be, before he remembered. This brought about a stage sigh from the poltergeist, as he shook his head ruefully at an image he didn't have, before starting back down the street. Being dead did have its little annoyances…

He slowed as he came to the intersection, reflecting briefly on which way from there he felt Lydia's pull. Damn, he never could have guessed, when he'd put that little bit of his own energy in her, just how useful it would become over the years… Not that it hadn't offered a drawback or two along the way. Like that incident with the neitherworld mob. But that was years ago, and everything had pretty much gone his way since then, so he wasn't going to pick it apart now.

Taking a right, he took in the grouping of boring shops to left and right, pausing with a slight grin at the sight of the candy shop Lydia loved to buy lemon drops from. He never used to think about it twice, but now it gave him all kinds of nasty thoughts… If she'd thought he was a bad influence on her before! He adjusted his lapels, licking his palm, and slicked his hair back, totally cheesing it. But she wasn't in there at the moment, so there went that group of sleazy innuendos. For now.

Stepping back a little, he considered the unimpressive store next to the candy shop, which seemed like some low budget, local excuse for a jewelry shop. The sort of place guys bought cheap rings for their sweethearts… Nothing like the piece of work he'd given Lyds. He dwelled, smugly on that, for a full minute, before it suddenly occurred to him to wonder why she was in there. Hell, what did she need in a place like that…?

Suddenly gripped by that wary feeling he had from time to time, when he was just sure something was about to jump up and bite him in the ass, he pushed the door open a little, and peered in, utterly ignoring the small 'ping' that announced his presence.

Lydia was at the counter, holding his beetle between two fingers, and speaking in low voices to the man behind the counter. For one moment, Beetlejuice was baffled… To all intents and purposes, it looked like the girl was in the middle of hocking his gift! Then she laughed softly, accepted a slender gleam of metal from the store clerk, and turned around, smiling, like she'd known he was there the whole time. "Beej!" She greeted him, completely without surprise. "Look what I did!"

Still a little cautious, he came up to her slowly, an uncertain purse to his lips. In the next moment though, it vanished, as she opened her hand to reveal the now spotless piece of jewelry, gleaming as perfectly as it had when it was new. He could even see the tiny chips of sapphire embedded into the beetle's shell now… "Cleans up nice, doesn't it?" She murmured appreciatively, while he just stared with a sudden, small lurch to his gut, old discarded memories coming back in a rush.

"Real nice, babes." He agreed softly, surprising himself when he didn't have to force the smile that followed this. "It'll look real good on you."

"I know it, right?" She was blushing a little as she said this, but then she paused suddenly, her hand disappearing up the front of her shirt, making his eyebrows fly up curiously. A moment later, this was followed by a small 'snap,' and he pulled the ring free he'd given her… Previously hanging on another shoelace, he was amused to see, and then held up the chain the store clerk had given her, letting it twist in the light.

"See, I figure," She said softly, not explaining the odd words any further than this, "Some things are meant to change for the better." While he briefly debated whether these words had some hidden significance, before discarding the idea for favor of seeing what she was up to, she threaded both ring and beetle on the slender chain, and held it out to him, swinging in the light, expectantly. "Put it on me?" She pleaded gently.

This had the effect of making his eyebrows fly up again, this time in puzzlement at her suddenly shy attitude, when the girl he knew was anything but. "Okay…" He took the ends of the chain from her, and twisted his fingers, indicating that she should turn around. She did, obediently, lifting the waves of black from her throat… And making his breath catch briefly in his. "Damn you got a sexy neck, babes." He muttered under his breath, pulling the chain around said neck, and snapping it in place… Letting his fingers linger just a little.

"You're the only one who thinks so." She informed him, with a tolerant little sigh. Before he could object to this, she turned back to him, and met his gaze with those deep, beautiful eyes of hers. He swore there was something different to them though, than he'd seen there before… and it left him staring, unable to put his finger on just what it was. "You're staring." She chided him gently, an affectionate smile pursing her lips. For once though, he wouldn't have been exaggerating, to claim she liked it…

Beetlejuice blinked, took a step back, and looked at the girl again. Something was different about her, not just the way she looked at him, but the way she held herself too. A confidence, a sensuality, that she'd suppressed before. This was a girl who suddenly knew she was beautiful… And enjoyed the fact that he knew it too. It hit him a fraction of a second later… Lyds was coming on to him!

A small sound of surprise escaped the back of his throat, but it was followed instantly by a triumphant look, as he stepped forward again, snagging her by the arm, and pulling her into his embrace. "Babes, I ever tell you that you look hot when you're flirting?" He purred, suddenly confident that she was doing just this, and even more so when she didn't abruptly pull away, or protest. Admittedly, he'd been wrong in his hunches before… But there she was, still giving him that come hither look, still smiling with her eyes all lit up with gentle feelings… Damn. When had this happened, and how had he missed it?

"Hmm," His thumb and forefinger worked along the edge of her jaw, his mouth just inches from claiming hers. "So let me get this straight… I didn't screw up?" A low, sensual chuckle escaped him. "'Cause I gotta tell you, babes… That was not how I expected the night to end."

"I know damn well how you expected the night to end." She smirked, pushing him back playfully, and not objecting when he just growled, and held her harder. "But you're going to be in a holding pattern for a long time, before that particular plane lands, buddy." Beetlejuice blinked, frowning. She couldn't possibly mean that, the way she…? She gave him a little shove, harder this time, but still didn't try to draw away. "You're going to prove to me you're serious," She went on, a little more seriously herself, "That means no ass for you, until I'm ready."

This set him back a little, and he considered her with a level, bargaining look. Damn, he wanted to jump her bones right now, right here…! But it would be the girl's first time, and there was never any telling how a chick was going to take that sort of thing. He was still confident in his ability to get his way… Hell, he'd gotten her this far, and he'd figured it to be pretty much a lost cause by this point!

Beetlejuice narrowed his eyes at her, finally loosening his grip, to take a step back. A flare of worry lit in her gaze, which almost made him chuckle, but for now he was going to make her sweat. "Uh-huh…" He mused slowly, just as if he were having second thoughts… Hell, turnaround was fair play, after all… "You do know who you're talking to here babes, right?" He made a pointed gesture towards himself. "Ghost with the most?"

Just as her lips begin to firm in something like frustration, or even defeat, he grinned again, and latched her around the shoulders once more, pulling her close enough to purr in her ear, "I'll talk you out of those panties in three days, tops."

A short, relieved laugh, escaped Lydia, more than a little exasperated as well. "Damn you!" She snickered, giving him a solid shove. "You had me thinking-!" But she never got to say what it was she'd been thinking, because at that moment he pulled her in for a bone-weakening kiss, teasing her with his fingertips as his tongue quickly claimed her mouth. He knew he was sending little tingles of ghost energy through her body, something not many would sense, but Lyds couldn't miss, and knew it even more as she went gradually weak against him, until he was holding her up. Damn if he was going to miss a trick now…

But then she caught him, unexpectedly, around the neck, and knocked his hat from his head as her fingers burrowed demandingly into the wiry, greasy strands. Biting his lip, hard enough to make him loosen his grip, before turning the warm softness of her tongue to it, and nibbling with a sort of tender expertise that he did not expect her to have.

When she broke the kiss, she tugged his hair just a little harder, not quite letting it go as she tucked her head into the curve of his shoulder, giggling fiendishly. She knew damn well what she'd just done to him, he reflected in surprise, belatedly realizing that once again, his hand was on her ass, and this time she wasn't making him move it. Every fiber in his body sang and burned… "Damn it!" He cursed under his breath. "You little liar! Where'd you learn to kiss like that?"

"I've had years to let my imagination run wild…" She murmured dryly, growing just a little warmer against his skin. "Sexual frustration can lead to some pretty creative thoughts…" A pause as she pulled him back a little, narrowing her eyes at him in challenge. "Just as good a reason to me as any, to make you wait."

Beetlejuice groaned, releasing her long enough to reclaim his hat from the floor, and dust it off on his already dirty pant leg. "I gotta tell you, babes… You're wasting perfectly good skills, already brimming with imagination. I got techniques that'll curl your bones!" He sighed, replacing it on his head, and giving her a bemused look. "So just so we're clear… I can still use all my tricks to seduce you, right? That's still fair game? Just so we're getting the rules of this little game straight…"

"You can seduce me, all you like." She agreed, putting an odd little emphasis on the word. "You start chasing other skirts again though, I bury you deeper than the last guys did. Capisce?" The poltergeist just smirked, waggling his eyebrows at her, truthfully already digging in his mental bag of tricks… Other skirts? Why the fuck would he waste this shot with a girl already more fun than any of them?

"Beej…" She groaned, interrupting his line of thought. "You don't know how serious I am… If you break my heart, I will never forgive you."

This surprised him momentarily, and he looked at the goth girl, a little studyingly. He didn't think he'd ever seen her with that particular look of vulnerability to her eyes… So what was this then? The best he'd figured was for a little mutual flirting, a good time, making their already existing friendship something even more fun.

But that was not, he realized abruptly, almost soberingly, what he saw in Lydia's eyes. The girl had let her guard down, and now that she had… It suddenly became apparent that she had a thing for him. A real thing. With all the confusing romantic feelings that came with it. Well damn, he wasn't expecting that! What broad in their right mind would fall for a guy like him? Especially Lyds, who knew just what that meant? He was just in it for the fun… Right?

Being in it for the fun though, didn't explain all the trouble he'd gone through to impress the girl, or the fact that he'd been willing to give up, if it was what she wanted. Didn't explain that he loved being around her all the time, and had for years, regardless of the other ghouls in his life. Maybe he was just fooling his damn self…

But Lyds, in love with him? The idea felt kind of like having a railroad spike driven through his forehead as it occurred to him again, albeit without the pain that should accompany it, and his legs suddenly questioned their ability to hold him up now too. Lyds… It confused the hell out of him, but the one thing he suddenly knew above all else, was that he would never do anything to hurt her. That was just, his babes. Rules he had for other people didn't apply.

He smiled, slowly, wondering if maybe his useless soul wasn't as useless as he'd thought. Wondering if maybe, he had a thing for her too? Ah, who knew? Who cared? She was his now. "Babes," He drawled, in a matter-of-fact sort of way, holding out his hands for emphasis, "Would I do a low down dirty thing like that?" After a pause though, which gave her time to think up a proper retort, he added, with a quirk of his eyebrow, "To you?"

This effectively stole her words, and after a moment, she smiled, hitting him with another railroad spike of revelation. The girl fucking trusted him. Had he not taught her a damn thing through the years?

At this point, an impatient voice cleared behind them, and he blinked, looking past Lydia, who looked suddenly horrified, to the store clerk, who'd apparently been watching the whole thing. Beetlejuice smirked. "What's it to you, buddy? Jealous?" And he grabbed Lydia lightly by the ass, adding "Go get your own!"

Lydia made a little sound of fury, or amusement, he couldn't tell which at the moment, but the fact that she stomped on his foot far more lightly than usual, had to be in his favor. The guy was saying something about making themselves scarce before he called the police… What the hell was his problem?

Then again, who cared? Lyds on his arm, his best friend, his only friend, his new ghoul… This was the start of a beautiful new afterlife. They walked out together, and he immediately struck up some inane little banter with her, his mouth instinctively finding things to say that didn't even register properly with his otherwise occupied brain. Him and Olivia's brat… Who knew?

Maybe when he saw the broad again, he'd thank her. Getting knifed in the back by the two faced little bitch was the second best thing that ever happened to him. .."Lyds?" He interjected into his current line of thought, apparently randomly, "You're the best. You know that, right?"

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