AN: I have never stayed in a dorm. However, I have stayed in barracks. Both officer and enlisted. So I'm basing Kitty's stay in the dorms on that. And, yes, I went to the officer's quarters to take my shower. That was where Dad was staying, so that's where I went. I absolutely refused to use the ones in the "enlisted" barracks. The end of this chapter is really important. It starts off a whole lotta stuffs. Ummm . . . oh! "By the by" is the Irish version of "by the way". Kitty is Irish. Thanks to Yenattirb, Calm-Waters, Animekitty47, Dark Angel Erissa, Morbid Crow, and HeartRose for their reviews. Holy crap. Six people! I feel lurved!!

Chapter 5: A Heart That Isn't Cold

My dorm room mate person had already left. Which was a good thing. I didn't feel like trying to find a place I could world jump without an audience. I was already fucking late.

As I rushed about the smallish room, trying to find an outfit, I recalled our meeting a few days earlier.

When I had entered the room, Beetlejuice behind me (Okay, that was weird because he was disguised as Betty, since guys couldn't just walk around the girls' dorm, and he was a better looking chick than I am. How screwed up is that?!) and the first thing Ms Claire Brewster said to me was, "Like, oh my gawd! It's, like, Jackie the Ripper!"

I had opted to wear my black trench coat, pullover, dark blue jeans, and black boots. But I didn't think I looked like a serial killer!

Since I seem to have a problem with thinking before I speak, I had said to her, with a perfectly straight face, "I don't eat kidneys."

The two blondes had looked at me like I had grown another head. Or if maybe there was a bit of uneaten kidney around my mouth. Who knows?

Anyway, I couldn't just stop. "Jack the Ripper ate part of Catherine Eddowes' kidney. She was his fourth victim, by the by." Then, I had walked into the room, placed my bags on the empty bed, and started putting things away. "I, however, eat brains." See, I told you I couldn't stop. "But don't worry," I had added, glancing at Claire, "I only eat the brains of people with abilities. So I can absorb said abilities." I had grabbed my box from the confused Beetlejuice/Betty. "And I'll eat liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

And she had called me a freak.

Oh well.

Then she had left, and Kowai had surprised me when (s)he said, "Didn't think Claire Brewster would be yer age."

I still hadn't asked what he had meant by that.

Fuckin' egg, I was still late!

I checked the pile of clothes in my arms, making sure I had everything. My shampoo and stuff was already at the Roadhouse, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Yeah, that was weird, too.

The dorms had this shower room. I refused to take a shower in a community shower room thing. It was not cool.

So, Kowai came to my rescue and said he had a working shower at the Roadhouse. Apparently, it even had hot water. And he wouldn't kick me out. That sold me.

We had agreed I couldn't use the chant. I figured it wasn't a good idea having the dorm room turn into a medieval castle tower room. Therefore, Beetlejuice gave me a necklace I could use to world jump. Yeah, that was my own term for it. All I had to do was the whole his-name-three-times thing, and think of going to him.

I wasn't sure if it was just some necklace he had and juiced it, or if it was originally intended for this kinda thing. Somehow, I doubted it was the latter.

The pendent was a five-pointed star inside a circle, with a red cat's-eye gem in the center. It hung just below the dip in my collar bone. And it was made with black gold. I wasn't all that fond of gold, but I still liked the necklace.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, and said his name.

I still hated that void I had to go through. It still made absolutely no sense. Which was the most frustrating thing. Ever.

When there was substance around me again, I opened my eyes. I was in the living room. But Beetlejuice wasn't.

Okay . . . that was new.

"Hey, Beej?" I called, slowly walking down the hall towards the bathroom.

Then I heard a door slam behind me. I turned, and saw him leaning against the door to his bedroom. He looked kinda flustered, and maybe a tad bit guilty. He was trying to hide it, being all nonchalant, hands in the pockets of his striped pants. Of course, it might have worked better if he was wearing more than just the pants, and he hadn't slammed the door.

"Hey, Kitty. Yer, uh, early."

"Um, no? I'm late, actually."

"Really?"

"Yup," I said, shifting my bundle of clothes so I could take off my jacket. The only problem with coming to the Neitherworld for my shower was I always got here in my Neitherworld duds. Meaning a corset. I couldn't get it off by myself.

I guess he got the hint, since he came over and turned me around so he could get at the laces.

"So, is she any good?" I asked.

"No idea what yer talkin' about." I heard him mumble.

I looked over my shoulder at him, and gave him my best I-wasn't-born-yesterday look.

He glanced at me, then returned his attention to the laces. "I've been with better."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Why are ya curious?"

I meowed in answer.

He smirked, but didn't say anything.

"Why are you curious about my curiousness?"

"Yer not jealous?"

I blinked. Honestly, I hadn't expected that. "Why would I--Look, I don't have time for this particular conversation. Can I come back tonight?"

I saw him shrug. "Sure." He finished with the corset, and asked, "What time?"

"Probably about eight. Eight thirty, maybe."

"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."

"Sweet," I said, and started walking to the bathroom. "Oh, and Kowai?"

"Hm?"

I looked over my shoulder again and grinned. "You look good with sex hair."

~*~*~*~*~*

I let out a noisy sigh, and flopped back on my temporary bed.

Time for me to have a conversation with Beetlejuice that I had never expected to have with him.

So I said his name again, and tried to ignore the void. Still hated that . . . thing.

And yelped when I hit the floor.

I heard Beetlejuice chuckle and ask, "Ya weren't standin' up when ya did it, huh?"

"Shuddup," I mumbled, sitting up. One problem with my Neitherworld duds was I had to move the goggles every time. It wasn't that big a deal. Except when I went back to my side, I'd forget to move them back down, and I'd show up with my glasses on top of my head.

I got up, and stretched (my arms in front of me to prevent any black outs). I looked towards Kowai and found him lounging on the couch. I took the empty end.

"So," he said. "What's with this . . . particular conversation?"

I took a deep breath and said, "I love you--"

And I had never seen the guy move that fast. That or gravity decided to pull real hard on him. On moment, he's all laid-back. Next moment, he's on the floor.

"Whoa, Kitty, I don't--" he started when he got to his knees, but I held up my hand to interrupt him.

"Are you going to let me finish?"

He nodded.

"Okay, but not till you get yer ass back up here. Got it?"

Beetlejuice nodded again, and got back on the couch. Sitting as far from me as possible. Jeez, men.

"Alright, I'm going to reword this so you don't have another panic attack," I said slowly. "Let's say, for the purposes of this conversation only, hypothetically speaking . . ." I paused. "Okay?" When he nodded, I continued with, "I hypothetically love you."

"Hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically." Okay, it seemed we were on the same page now. "Since I hypothetically love you, I want you to be happy. If I truly love you. Therefore, I will never be jealous."

He was silent for a minute. "I don't get it."

I knew he wouldn't.

"Okay. I love you, right? That means I want you to be happy. Following me so far? Good. Now, let's say you've met this girl. She's totally awesome, and you think she's the one for you--"

"Wait, do I know you love me?"

"Ummm, would it help you to understand if you don't know?"

"Probably."

"Okay, then, you don't know. Alright. So yeah, you meet this girl, and she's totally all that and a bag chips. Normally, chicks would get jealous, right? Well, I think jealousy is one hell of an ugly monster, and it makes me ugly too. If I get jealous, I see that as me loving myself more than I love you. So, back to you and the new girl. I can see that she makes you happy. And since I truly love you, all I want is you to be happy. If that means I'm out of the picture. Then, so be it."

It looked like he was thinking it over, since his gaze was no longer on me. Then his eyes flicked back to mine.

"Will you still love me?"

I smiled softly. "I will always love you."

AN: Say it with me! Awwww. *blinks* Ooo, I should do a chapter where I can use Untouched by The Veronicas. I think it'd be awesome. Okay, next chapter! It will be from Beetlejuice's POV, and it will answer the MOST ASKED QUESTION in regards to Kitty. That's right, folks! Next chapter, you'll find out Kitty's real name! Yay!