AN: Wee! 'Nother chappie! And it's kinda long . . . So, thanks to Yenattirb for letting me borrow an idea. Thanks to Calm-Waters, Morbid Crow, HeartRose, and Starling Powers for your reviews. Love ya lots! No new japanese in this one. Now I bring you the next chapter of Stars!

Chapter 4: This Ghost Inside You Hurts

Maybe I should've "put him back" last night.

I tried to ignore the poltergeist trying to wake me up. It was Saturday. I got to sleep in for a tad on Saturday.

But it was damn difficult to ignore a guy when he yanks the covers off you.

I sat up, glared at him, and grabbed my comforter, pulling it back over me as I slammed my head back down on my pillows.

Apparently, he wasn't gonna take the hint. I felt the my bed shift as it took his weight. Judging by the depressions around my body (I couldn't see him, because I had tucked the comforter over my head), his hands were on either side of my shoulders, and my thighs were between his knees. If I wasn't angry, I would have found this awkward.

Since I was angry, I decided to take a bit of revenge. I flicked the comforter off my head, and rammed my forehead into his.

One good thing about having dense bones (which accounted for my weight, and size) was it gave me a thick skull. Perfect for head-butts.

Beetlejuice flopped onto his back next to me, his hands on his forehead. Duchess, who usually growled at anyone besides me, Nero, and occasionally Greta when they got on my bed, rushed over to her new favorite person (and decided to use my stomach as a spring board) and licked his hands. She was worried about her new human, and she had to make sure he was okay. Wasn't she adorable?

The ghost grinned and scratched behind her ears.

I glared at him. "What do you want?"

"I want ya outta bed," he said with an evil grin. I did not like that grin one iota. "But if ya won't get outta bed then I'll just. . ."

Next thing I know, his cold body was in my warm bed!

I shot out faster than a jack rabbit on speed.

From my place on the floor, I continued to glare at him. He had grabbed my raccoon stuffed animal and was cuddling it. I noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt anymore. I swear, if he was goin' commando in my bed, I was gonna kick him in the balls.

"Relax," he said, smirking. "I got boxers on. Unless that bothers ya."

I rolled my eyes. "No, that doesn't bother me. But if yer gonna were boxers around me, would you do me a favor, and keep in mind where your junk is in relation to any . . . openings? I know this may come as a shock, but I don't wanna know what you're packing."

He started cackling, and I scrambled to cover his mouth with my hand. I did not want him to wake up my parents. That would be fun to explain. Yeah, this guy in my bed? He's a ghost. Don't mind the fact he's almost naked. It's not like I'm sleeping with him. Even if he is in my bed at the moment. My parents would kill me!

That was when I realized I'd never had a guy in my bed before. Hell, I've never had a guy in my room before! And this dead guy had been in my room everyday for a week!

Crazy thing, Life.

Then the dead guy licked me.

I gave him my best Spock eyebrow, but didn't remove my hand from over his mouth. What, did he think that was gonna bug me? I licked people. I bite, too.

When it seemed there wasn't any threat to him waking my parents, I moved my hand and asked what he wanted, again.

"I want us to go to the Neitherworld!"

"I can't go today, Kowai."

"But, Kitty!"

"No! And don't say you'll just put everybody to sleep. There's stuff that needs to get done today."

"Like what?!"

"Oh, gee, I dunno, grocery shopping maybe? It's kinda hard to eat when we don't have any food."

Beetlejuice pouted for a moment. He still had my raccoon. What the hell?

"Tomorrow then?"

"No."

"Kitty," he whined. What the fuck was this? A grown man whining!

"I said, no, Beetlejuice."

"You are absolutely no fun!"

"You've got me next week!"

"Yeah, and what about the week after that?! You start school again. Yer gonna be too busy fer me!"

I sighed. He had a point. "We'll figure something out when it comes to that, okay?"

"Whatever." He had rolled onto his back and tossed my raccoon up in the air. Before he could catch it, I grabbed it, and tossed it back to it's place beside my pillow. Then I mimicked his position over me from earlier.

"Hey, I said we'd work something out. Beej, I have responsibilities. You know that. Fuck, dude, I just recently figured that out. There's this thing called 'studying', and it kinda helps you pass your tests! Crazy, huh," I said with a grin. "I mean, I heard of it before, and when I tried it out, I was pretty stoked to find out it actually worked! Butchasee? It took me," I counted quickly in my head, "fifteen years of going to school to figure that out. Look, Kowai, I would love nothing more than to hang out with you. You're my friend! No, I take that back. You're my new best friend! Jessica's still my best friend, but she's kinda on the other side of the country, so you're my new one. But I can't just go with you. Like I said, there's stuff I need to do. Fuck, I'll be twenty in March, and I still get in trouble over this kinda shit. So, if you still want me to hang out with you, give me some time to get my shit done." I leaned down and gave him an eskimo kiss. "Okay?"

Beetlejuice just looked at me for a moment, before he (what was the phrase he used?) "juiced himself" next to my bed. Back in his usual outfit. Thank the gods.

"Deal," he said, holding out his hand.

I held up my hand, and looked from mine to his. Then, smirking, I spat on mine and shook his. "Deal!" Little payback for licking me.

Hmm, I wanted to see just what kinda guy he was.

Would he watch me fall, like everyone else?

Or would he catch me?

Standing up, I stretched my arms above my head, fingertips doing their best to touch the ceiling. My back arched, and I stood up on the balls of my feet. I loved stretching. Call me crazy, but I'm a dancer. We thought stretching hurt so good. The one problem with these full body stretches I loved so much was the fact it was a sure fire way for me to black out.

For as long as I could remember, I would have these little black outs. I didn't loose consciousness, though, so they weren't exactly "black outs", but I didn't know what else to call them. They would happen when I stood up, and occasionally when I was walking! That was scary. But this kind of stretch would definitely do it.

I waited until I started to feel lightheaded, and I shifted my stance slightly. Just in case he didn't catch me. Once the lightheadedness turned to dizziness, I let my arms fall. My vision darkened, and I felt my knees give, and I fell.

And I was rather shocked when I didn't hit the floor.

As my vision returned, along with a ringing in my ears (crap, I over did it), I felt an arm around my shoulders, and one across my waist.

After I could see again, I turned my head to look at Beetlejuice.

"You caught me." Holy freakin' crap!

"Yeah? So?"

"No one's ever caught me." This was definitely different.

Now he looked shocked. "This happened before?"

"What, me blacking out? Yeah, it's happened my entire life."

"And yer not worried?"

"Nope." One doctor said it was low blood sugar. With the way I eat, I doubted that. "It's the same thing as my hands. Which is genetic, by the way. My dad and sister have it, too. I haven't quit figured out the exact details, but I digress. The black outs are just something I've gotten used to. I've become a bit of an expert at falling."

He blinked. "Y'got a sister?"

"Yup. My birth parents are divorced. Me and Haley share a dad, while me and Zach share a mom. I'm the oldest."

"Huh. Sorry," he mumbled. That was the typical reaction.

"S'all good. It happens." At least I didn't think it was my fault anymore, but with that knowledge came the knowledge of my dad using me. So when I said it was all good? Big fat lie.

~*~*~*~*~*

Although I would have loved to "stay in my room" all day, I had to be sociable. So that meant I went grocery shopping with my mom, and read while they watched football. I hate football.

I told Beetlejuice he could leave, that it wasn't gonna bother me if he wasn't there. I mean, we were friends, but it wasn't like I needed him.

But he didn't leave. It was rather disconcerting. I knew when he was there, even if I couldn't see him. It was like when I could tell if a tv was on, even if the screen was black. Almost like this electricity in the air. Gave me chills, it did.

And he had to have been bored out of his crazy mind.

Not fast enough, it was eleven at night, and I gave Mom and Mike a hug goodnight. I rarely gave kisses. Just wasn't something I did. Hugs, though. Those I needed.

As soon as I was in my room, Nero and Duchess trailing me, I shut the door, and flopped on my bed.

"Ain't my life boring as hell?" I asked out loud.

I heard him chuckle. "Ain't that bad."

I sat up to see him reclining in midair. "Ain't that bad? Hell, they watched football all freakin' day."

"Like I said, not that bad." He smirked when I sighed. "Now, go to sleep."

I blinked a few times. "Why?"

"'Cause, I want ya to see somethin' but we gotta wait. So, go to sleep."

"Fine," I said, as I snuggled up under my comforter. I had to move Nero, so he didn't get trapped. The lazy butt. "Turn on my music?"

His feet dropped down to the floor, and he walked over the the chest at the end of my bed, and he crouched in front of my laptop. "What do you want?"

"The I Am Ghost playlist."

When I heard "Crossing the River Styx" start playing, I laid down, took of my glasses, set them on the nightstand, and closed my eyes when the light switched off.

~*~*~*~*

I held the wooden stake loosely in my hand. There wasn't any point in holding it so tight my hand cramped. People just didn't seem to get that.

One would also think a medieval castle with no living people in it (save me and who I was attempting to rescue) would be pretty easy to get lost in. It wasn't like there were signs saying "This way to his chambers". But somehow, I knew exactly where to go.

Opening a door that looked like every other fuckin' door in this place, I knew I was in the right place. What other room would have a seriously huge freakin' four-poster bed, complete with dark red silk drapes.

When I walked into the bedroom, I drew in a sharp breath.

"Jessica." Her name fell from my lips in a sob. I was too late. Two puncture marks were clearly visible on her pale skin, still bleeding. Her blue eyes forever closed. I walked over to her, and brushed the light brown hair from her face. I still couldn't see the similarities in us, but everyone thought we were twins. Now, no one would make that assumption again.

I jerked when I heard the door slam. I whirled around, ready to ram the steak through his heart.

My eyes locked with his unnaturally green eyes. Big mistake. Never look a vampire directly in the eyes. I heard the stake clatter as it fell to the stone floor. I was fucked.

He closed the gap between us quickly, and his hand held my neck.

"Hey, Kitty. Now, yer all mine."

Fangs flashed, as he went for my vein--

--and I bolted awake, sitting up.

And for the second time in a twenty-four hour period, head butted Beetlejuice.

"OW! What the fuck, Kitty?!"

Okay, that one hurt. The pain spread from the middle of my forehead to the rest of my skull, throbbing with every heartbeat. And my heart was beating pretty fast at the moment.

Once the pain subsided to a dull throb, and my heart slowed down, I rubbed my neck, where Vamp-Beej almost got me. That was . . . I shuddered.

I grabbed my phone, and looked at the clock. One thirty. So eleven thirty back in Mesa. Scrolling through my contacts, I selected Jessica, and pushed the call button.

"'Allo, love, what's up?" she asked after the second ring.

"Hey, dude. I just had this crazy ass dream."

"Oh? What was it about?"

"Well, you kinda got bitten by a vampire, and, yeah."

"Awesome. Did I turn into a vampire, or did it kill me?"

"He, uh, kinda killed you. I was tracking him, trying to rescue you, but I was too late."

"Huh. You're weird."

I smiled. "Yeah, well, that's why you love me."

"Indeed."

"So, uh, I'll call you later. 'Kay?"

"Okie dokie."

I slid my phone shut, and rubbed my neck again. I've had my share of crazy ass dreams, but this one . . . was just goddamn freaky.

Then I grabbed my glasses so I could actually see, and looked Beetlejuice. He was glaring at me.

"I didn't mean to," I said. "Your head was in my way."

He rolled his eyes, and held his hand out.

"What?"

"Let's go."

"Go where?"

"It's a surprise."

Surprise? I liked surprises! I glanced at Nero and Duchess. They were still asleep. Then I took his hand. Since I could tell his was cold, that meant mine was warm. Woohoo! Awesome!

He hauled me up, and pulled me close to him. His arms wrapped around my waist, and I had no clue where to put mine, so I just kinda placed my hands lightly on his shoulders. Being this close to someone just wasn't something I did. Not a lot of opportunities for it.

"Alright, then," I said. "Let's do this thing."

He smirked. "Gotta hold on tighter than that, Kitty."

I felt my eye twitch. Um, okay? So, I slid my arms around his neck. "Better?"

His arms around me tightened. "It'll work. Close yer eyes."

I did so, and suddenly I wasn't standing on anything. In fact, it felt like there was nothing around me. I started to panic.

"Relax, Kitty," I heard Beetlejuice say, and then I could tell he was still holding me.

The initial panic of being alone faded, and just as quickly as it happened, that void feeling (if one can call feeling nothing a feeling . . . okay, that was just confusing, and it made no immediate sense to my scientific oriented mind.) disappeared. But I still wasn't standing on anything.

"You can open yer eyes now, kitten."

I opened one, and my face scrunched as I kept the other closed. He was smirking, the bastard. Always had that smug look on his face. Sometimes, I just wanted to smack it off. But at the moment, that would have required the loosening of my death grip around his neck. And I didn't see that happenin' anytime soon. At least not until there was something solid under me.

"Ya gonna look around, or what?"

Opening my other eye, I looked down. Trees. Lots of trees. That meant we were outside, but I wasn't cold in my pajama pants and t-shirt. Then I looked up.

"Oh, wow!"

Stars! So many stars! I'd never seen so many pinpricks of light. Each little distant fireball glittering away, like they didn't have a care in the world. Well, they didn't. I mean, they were just fireballs. Or suns for other solar systems. But to me, they were beautiful diamonds in the velvet sky.

Then I returned my attention to Beetlejuice. "How'd you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I love stars."

He grinned. "That was easy. Whenever ya go outside at night, ya look up at the sky."

I looked back up to find the moon. I smiled softly when I found her. She was pretty, too. Not as much when she was full, or red, but still pretty.

"Hey, Kowai?"

"Hm?"

"When you look at the moon, do you see a man, or a bunny?"

He was silent for a moment.

"I see a rock."

"Oh. I see a bunny."

"What's a bunny doin' on the moon?"

"Japanese legend. I'll tell you later. I don't remember all the details."

All I could remember was the bunny sacrificed itself for the samurai's dinner, and the samurai sent the bunny's spirit to the moon.

~*~*~*~*

This time I woke up to Beetlejuice's voice. Sounded like he was talking to someone.

"They said what?!"

And he was angry.

Rolling over, I looked at the clock. The blue LED lights read "8:05". Cool, he let me sleep in. I always slept in on Sundays, so I was pretty happy.

Then I sat up, rubbed my face, and squinted in Kowai's direction. His back was turned to me, and he was talking on a cell phone. A flip phone, to be exact. Oh my God! Flip phones were, like, so four years ago!

Don't look at me like that. Phones are the only thing I care about when it comes to the latest fashions. I know what's hot, and what's not. Flip phones were definitely not. Touch screens were definitely hot. I was behind with my slide phone, but it was still kinda in because it had a mirror. Soon, though. Soon I would have a touch screen . . .

"Nightshade, tell them to get it in stock, or I will rip their heads off . . . . I thought they said this wouldn't happen again! . . . Hmm, maybe you should maim them, then. I'd have to make sure they didn't survive to keep my reputation up."

Okay . . . obviously there was something he needed that didn't seem his style. I tilted my head, watching him, trying to figure it out.

Beetlejuice ran his hand through his hair, and he pulled a lock forward to look at it. I think that was what he was doing. Then he smoothed his hair out, just to ruffle it up again.

I was confused. He was listening to whoever he was on the phone with, so I snuck up behind him. And I was rather surprised he didn't noticed. I could hear a woman's voice on the phone, but I couldn't make out any words. Sounded like Nights. But Beetlejuice had called her Nightshade. Musta been her nickname, or something.

He sighed, muttered "Fine," and shut the phone.

"What's up?"

I smirked when he jumped. He looked at me over his shoulder.

"Nothin'."

"Didn't sound like nothin' to me. Was that Nights?"

"Yeah."

"What'd she want?"

"Yer not gonna stop, are ya?"

"Not likely," I said and ruffled his hair. But I stopped, my hand still in his hair. My smirk vanished.

Holy shit.

To confirm my suspicions, I stood up on my tippy-toes, and took a deep breath.

"You wash your hair," I said in a deadpan voice.

"Ya tell anyone, and I'll, uh, do somethin' to ya."

I grinned and ruffled his pale locks some more. "No worries. Your secret's safe with me! So, they didn't have the shampoo you wanted?"

"No. Second time this has happened."

"I can get you some, if ya'd like." I wanted to check out the town anyway.

The ghost shrugged. "Sure."

~*~*~*~*

A couple hours later, me and Beetlejuice were walking to the town. Okay, I was walking. He was floating. Bastard.

I had grabbed my iPod, and was listening to it, but Beetlejuice yanked one of the buds out of my ear.

I glared at him. "What?"

"So, parents divorced?"

"Yeah, I told you that."

"Yer not okay with it."

I stopped glaring, and look down where I was walking, hands shoved in the pockets of my black bubble trench coat.

"Not really, no. I was seven. We had just moved from Oklahoma. Dad's in the army, but back then it wasn't full time. So every month for one weekend he'd go away and do army stuff. I remember crawling into my parents' bed one of those nights, wanting my mom to read me my Peter Pan book. While she was reading it, I told her I didn't want to live with Dad anymore. I was only seven, but I knew things were different. I was upset because he wasn't paying as much attention to me as he used to. Not long after, my parents separated. For the longest time, I blamed myself. They all kept telling me it wasn't my fault, but I just wouldn't believe them. Then, really just a few months ago, I found out my dad was using me. He was getting back at my mom by making me believe it was my fault.

"Not long after my parents separated, Mom married Mike. Me and Mike got along pretty well. We always have. Then a year after that, Dad remarried.

"I hate her. Always have. She and that little spawn of hers." My voice had lowered, and I sneered. "She never liked me either. Fuckin' bitch. And does my dad ever take my side?" I stopped walking and started yelling. "No! He always goes back to her! He didn't do shit when that woman called my school and had security take me out of class to search me for knives! All because her little bastard of a son pissed me off!"

I stopped my rant, breathing hard, tears threatening to spill. I couldn't tell him the rest of the story. I only knew him for a week. What would he think of me if he knew the rest?

He was watching me. He didn't say anything.

That was all I could take. Tears fell down my face, and I crouched down, hugging myself, as I cried.

"Dad said he cares, but he doesn't," I sobbed.

But I stopped when I felt arms around me. I looked up to see Beetlejuice doing his best to hold the little sobbing ball I'd become.

"Kitty," he said quietly. "I'm not any good at this kinda shit. So--"

"Just hold me. That's all I need."

He nodded, and I stood up so it wouldn't be so awkward.

And he held me.

AN: If you haven't noticed, all the chapter titles are song lyrics. Yup. This one took me forever to find. Um, there is a poll up on my profile. I'll love you forever if you vote, and I'll love you for all eternity if you review! Kisses!