AN: Wow, so much tension in this chapter, but I got rid of most of it towards the end. It was easy since all this tension is Kitty's fault. I don't know how many of you know, but Keroro Gunso is called Sgt. Frog over here. In the US. It's my favorite anime and manga. Gotta love them alien frogs! Many much thanks to Crow-kun, Eris-chan, and Calm-Waters-chan for their reviews. And to Jessica. Love ya, dude! And I loves the rest of you!

Chapter 14: This battle scar is healing

I jerked awake in a mini panic attack. Why wouldn't they go away? I've never had nightmares before, but now I'm having them every night! Maybe it takes longer than a few weeks to get over being kidnapped (again) and having your mind fucked with.

Looking at my clock, I sighed in annoyance when I saw it was only four o'clock. I wasn't supposed to be up for another three hours. And I doubted I'd be able to fall back asleep. Good thing the fall semester was over. Gotta love winter break when you can't sleep.

Since I was pretty much awake now, I leaned over and picked up my laptop off the floor. That was its new place when I slept, as opposed to my chest at the end of the bed. Made it easier to check mail and blogs when I kept my computer on my bed.

I had no idea what I was gonna do at four fucking o'clock in the morning. Scratch that. YouTube is my friend. So I set up the next episode of Keroro Gunso that I was on, and plugged in my headphones so I wouldn't disturb anyone.

"Anyone" mainly concerning Beetlejuice.

If I thought he didn't want to leave me alone after my first kidnapping, then this was not-wanting-to-leave-me-alone on steroids. Seriously, the guy had to be around me all the time! Not that I was complaining. I was in love with him, which meant I wanted him around. Since everyday brought us one day closer to him . . . leaving. I honestly didn't think that was the right word, but whatever. Right, my constant companion. I liked that he was here, but everybody needs some space every once in a while.

As I waited for the video to load and give me enough buffer, I glanced at Kowai. Personally, I thought his pajamas were ridiculous. They were the same . . . magenta-ish color as his shirt, and they had little beetles on them. But at least they matched. Mine were always whatever t-shirt I had been wearing that day and whatever pajama pants I pulled out of my closet. Hey, it worked.

Beej was sleeping, and I always found it amazing when he slept. I just never thought of ghosts sleeping. Once, he told me he didn't need it, but it was just something he was used too. That was fine with me. I believed sleep was a glorious thing. But right now, I couldn't get any. And I had dark circles around my eyes to match his.

I had watched a couple episodes when one of the buds of my headphones got yanked out of my ear. Looking at Beetlejuice out of the corner of my eye--I hated being blind. I grabbed my glasses off my nightstand, slid them on, and looked at him again. Now I could make out facial expressions in the dark. And his was angry.

"What," I said.

"Yer supposed ta be asleep."

"No fucking duh."

"Then why ain't ya?"

"Gee, I dunno, Beetlejuice. Maybe it's because I can't?" Yes, I was angry, too. No, I wasn't sorry for snapping at him.

"Nightmare?"

"Of course."

He paused for a moment. "Wanna talk about it?"

Now I really snapped at him. "And what the fuck is talking about it gonna do?! Fer Christ's sake, Beej, talking doesn't do shit!"

"Yer doin' it again," he said quietly.

"Doing what?" I asked, exasperated.

"Closin' up on me."

I blinked a few times, trying to process what he said. God, I was so fed up with this! I set my laptop to the side, stood up, and started pacing, running my hands through my hair.

"Why do you care?!" I didn't understand it!

Then he was standing with me, his arms around me.

"'Cause fer now, yer mine."

I had tensed up when he held me. I wasn't his. I never was.

"Kowai, you're just complicating things when you say stuff like that."

"I'm complicatin' things?! Kitty, yer the--" He stopped, let out an exasperated sigh, and let go of me. "Just one more day."

" . . . what?"

"I gotta talk ta Nights about it first, but if it works, tomorrow I'm goin' back ta Lyds."

He wasn't looking at me when he said it. And I was glad he didn't. No doubt he would see my heart breaking in my eyes. Yeah, I knew this day would come. But I didn't think it would be today. Didn't these things take time?

Then I realized tomorrow was our one-year anniversary as friends.

How appropriate.

~*~*~*~*

Yup. I was miserable. And not even the total awesomesauce clothes at Midnight Desires could cheer me up. I felt bad for Derrick, who had to put up with my mopey ass while Beej and Nights talked.

I guess Derrick was starting to get annoyed with me because he told me to sit, and he looked kinda pissed.

"Kitty, what's the deal?" he asked, arms across his chest.

"Whadya mean?"

The cowboy just raised his eyebrow.

"Well, Beej is leaving tomorrow."

"Ah, so this is about Lydia."

I stared at him. "How . . ." It seemed the words escaped me.

And then he laughed! At me! Here I was, my heart breaking into little tiny pieces because the man I loved was in love with another woman, and this dude was laughing at me!

"Come on, Kitty, BJ isn't the kinda guy whose problems center around him. Unfortunately for the universe, his decisions impact the rest of us. Nights tried to kill me because BJ made a . . . 'bad' decision when it came to Lydia. So why exactly are you upset."

Oh dear. That must have been an interesting dating period. Right, question.

"I love my Kowai."

"Did you tell him?"

"No. He loves Lydia."

"Why didn't you tell him?"

"Because I don't want to . . . be the other woman."

Then he sighed and shook his head. "You're one of those women."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, woe is me," he said an a ridiculous falsetto. "I do not deserve to be happy! O happy dagger, this is thy sheath; there rust and let me die." Then he voice went back to normal. "Grow up."

My eyes narrowed, and I slowly stood up. So what if he was four inches taller than me?

"I don't take too kindly to people tellin' me to grow up," I said through clenched teeth.

"Then ya better do it," he said, smirking.

I gave him my "evil Kylie" look: head tilted down, and slightly to right, eyes looking up, and with a sneer. And I said, quietly, "You think I need to grow up? You think I'm some whiney little brat who thinks the world hates her? One who thinks the world would be a better place without her in it? Tell you what, cowboy, I already went through that stage. I do deserve to be happy. I love Beetlejuice. I want him to be happy. If he's happy, I'm happy. He'll be happy with Lydia. That means I'm out of the picture."

"He could be happy with you," Derrick said, just as quiet.

"I'll let him make that decision. I'm not gonna force it."

Then we heard Nights clear her throat. I turned my head to look at the blondes, standing in front of the door to the back room of her store. They were giving us Spock-brows.

I took a step back from Derrick, and kept my head down. It wasn't that I was embarrassed about our mini-showdown, but about how I had been acting earlier. Crazy how it took someone to piss me off to realize I had, in fact, been behaving they way I hated.

"Kitty?"

I looked up at Beetlejuice, trying to smile. I was still angry at myself.

"Hm?"

"It'll work," he said with a grin.

"Awesomesauce!" I smiled brightly, genuinely.

Then he turned to Nights. "Will it be ready tomorrow?"

She gave him a duh look and said, "Sweetheart, I could have it done in ten minutes. But, since I want to make sure it is, without a doubt, perfect, I'll take more time on it. In answer to your question: yes, it'll be ready tomorrow."

Looks like tomorrow was gonna be a big day for everybody.

AN: No more tension! At least, not nearly as much. I'll try to get the next part up quick like. Before Beetlejuice tries to change it again.

I don't like the title to this chapter, but I ran out of time. Class is gonna start!