Lydia woke up more refreshed than she had in a long time. She looked up and saw Beetlejuice sleeping soundly, holding her. She never thought he could look better than usual. The morning light outlined his features. More pronounced now because he had lost weight. She traced his outline, feeling the need to touch him.

"How long have you been up?" He asked in his gravely voice, his eyes still closed.

"Not long, I love waking up to you." She said causing him to open one eye and look at her.

"We've slept together before. Lots and lots of times Babes." He said wiggling his eyebrows for emphasis.

"I know, but during the summer, you always woke me up so I could go back to my room. This is the first time I was able to wake up before you. You look sexy in the morning." She said smiling at him. He smiled despite himself and stretched.

"Want to do something about it?" He turned on his side to rub her bare back. God she felt so good.

"Yeah, I do." She smiled and slowly moved away from him to stand next to the bed.

"What are you up to?"

"If you want me, I'll be in the shower." She said and watched his face grimace. She giggled and turned on her heel towards the bathroom. Before she knew it, he came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist. She squeaked and giggled as he picked her up and carried her into the bathroom.

Beetlejuice never would have thought that getting clean would have been fun, but with Lydia it was so much more. They spent their time washing each other between kisses, letting the steam roll and fill the room. It wasn't until all of the hot water was gone that they climbed out to get dressed.

Lydia knew that she had missed the Neitherworld, but she didn't know that she missed it this much. Everything seemed right, she knew that she belonged here, but she also knew that Beetlejuice wouldn't allow it, at least not yet.

"Lydia, we missed you." Ginger said when they walked into the Living-Dead room.

"I missed you guys too." She said happily. She was about to say something to Jacques, but he was concentrating on Beetlejuice.

"Bea-ttlejuice, you 'ave taken a shower n'est-ce pas?" He said looking at Beetlejuice from head to toe.

"He sure did Jacques, and he liked it." Lydia said before he could respond. When Beetlejuice looked down at his feet she just giggled as Jacques and Ginger started to laugh hysterically.

"Come on Babes, let's go." He said grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door.

"You need to stay Lydia, 'e will only take a shower if you are 'ere!" Jacques called before Beetlejuice slammed the door.

"You do look incredibly sexy all cleaned up." She said as they climbed into the Doomie. She stared at his profile and licked her bottom lip. His pale blonde hair was slicked back and still wet from the shower, his skin soft and dewy smelling faintly of her soap. She leaned over and kissed his soft cheek. Her soap smelled different on him, more masculine than she would have thought.

"Lyds you're gonna make me get into an accident if you keep doing that." He said not daring to look over at her. She just laughed softly and propped her feet up, closing her eyes halfway.

"Where are we going Beej?"

"You'll see." He said and nothing more. Lydia shrugged and watched the scenery change. She didn't know how long they drove, but just when she was about to doze off he stopped.

"We're here Babes." He said climbing out.

"Where's here?"

"The Neitherworld Beach." He said taking her hand. They walked up the sand dunes and there was the ocean laying before them.

"Oh Beej, this is the most beautiful place I've ever seen." She said. The sand was the whitest color, like crushed pearls and the water was a deep, clear blue.

"Every time I come here I think of you." He said kissing her hand. She looked up at him and smiled tugging him down to the water.

"You should have told me and I would have brought a bathing suit." She said, disappointment in her voice.

"Not a prob Babes." He said and snapped his fingers. Lydia looked down and saw that her clothes had disappeared and were replaced with a very small black bikini. Beetlejuice had on a pair of black and white stripped speedos.

"Beetlejuice!" She said feeling exposed.

"Lyds, you're covered don't worry about it." He said and enjoyed the look on her face. She seemed to be mixed with a confusion of annoyance and amusement. She sighed and smiled. "Besides Babes, we're the only ones here. I thought I was being generous giving you anything at all." He laughed when she gave him a small push in his chest and took off running towards the water and dashing into it.

"It's so warm Beej." She said kicking some water to splash him.

"Now Lyds, don't start something you can finish." He said, mischief in his voice.

"Yeah?" She said and kicked the water again. It wasn't a half a second later that he tackled her into the water. She came up sputtering and pushing the wet hair out of her eyes. When Beetlejuice came up he just had a wide, smug grin on his face.

"Told you not to start it." He said then laughed when she splashed him with some more water. He just picked her up and dropped her in the water again. Instead of coming straight up she swam away before coming up.

"Thanks a lot Beej." She pushed the hair away and stayed away from him.

"You might want to be careful Babes." He said giving her a worried look.

"Why?" She asked scared at his look. When he vanished she felt something rubbing against her legs and looked down to see a black and white stripped shark.

"You never know what's lurking in these waters." He said coming up.

"Unfortunately I do Beej." She said laughing and walking back towards the sand.

He quickly followed her out and laid down on the beach beside her.

"I wish I didn't ever have to go back."

"I know Babes, but you don't have a choice, it'll be done with soon."

"I doubt it, it will be worse and I'll miss you more than you know. That's why I've decided to stay. I'm not going back." Lydia said turning to Beetlejuice. "I love you." Hearing the words out loud, coming from her mouth while she was awake was like nothing else. It made something inside him swell. It was one thing that he didn't dare dream about, but hoped about it every second of every day. He knew that they were living in a glass house right now. If Lydia never went back there would be monumental hell to pay. It would only be a matter of time before the first stone would be thrown and their fragile life would crumble. He couldn't let that happen, not now.

"Babes, I know that you think you love me, but it's just infatuation." It broke his heart to hear those words coming from his mouth and it shattered it to watch her face change as she absorbed what he'd said.

Lydia changed from feeling on top of the world one second to feeling her heart ripped out the next. He didn't think she loved him? It wasn't possible, it couldn't be. She shook her head and felt a lump in her throat.

"It's not infatuation Beej, I love you. I've loved you for a long time." She chocked on her words as she spoke.

"No Lydia, you see me an easy escape. I am an excuse for you not to live your life. You are using me to not have to grow up and I won't let you do that anymore." He tried to keep his heart out of his voice, but he knew there was some left in there.

Lydia stared at him, her pain mixed with fresh outrage as he spoke. He questioned her honor, her dignity and her heart. She leapt up to her feet and stared down at him, angry tears flowing freely down her face.

"How dare you, how dare you question me. If that's the way you think Beetlejuice, then fine. I won't use you anymore. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and was sent back to her room. She didn't see the tears streaking down his face as she sent herself away.