You Owe Me

by Siamese2005

It has been three years since the movie and Beetlejuice is finally out of the waiting room. He wants revenge and he still wants out so he captures Lydia, bringing her into the Neitherworld. What he didnt expect was to fall in love with her...I'M ALL DONE

3. Chapter 3

(Thank you for the reviews! I am glad you like it so far! Here's Chapter Three, it is a nice long one for you!)

Lydia looked around the house, Ginger and Jacques had just left with some of their belongings. Apparently since she had arrived they had found a place to stay until things were all cleared up with Beetlejuice. She sighed. She wished they were here though, she got lonely throughout the day. Beetlejuice was home most of the time but he locked himself in a room doing who knows what. She sighed. He didn't seem to like to leave her alone, she figured it was because he feared she would run away again. Today, however, he said he had something important to do and that he would be back shortly. Before he left he had made a huge point that she not go anywhere and he had locked the front door from the outside. Lydia grinned. However, the doofus had forgotten to lock the back door.

Grumbling, Lydia walked outside, needing to get some fresh air, if you could call the air around here fresh. She had been here going on five days and she still had not found anything on how to help Beetlejuice. Her heart skipped a beat. And if she didn't find out how soon she would have to, gulp, marry him.

Lydia sat down in a patch of what she hoped was grass and began to play with the little dandelion-things that were sprinkled across the lawn.

Grumbling to himself something about overpaid holy men, Beetlejuice walked back in, happy to see that the lock was still on the front like he had left it. Unlocking it and swinging it open "Honey, I'm home!" he proudly announced.

Not hearing a response he looked a little worried, but carried on louder, thinking that maybe Lydia hadn't heard him.

"Hey toots, I said I'm home. You could at least offer me a drink or something after such a long day."

Looking around, and not seeing Lydia anywhere, he began to freak out, rushing to the door he had bolted shut, finding it still sealed tight.

"THAT DAMN GIRL. DAMN WOMEN. CANT TRUST EM' WORTH A FRIGGIN LICK!" He swore, throwing the small book he was carrying at the wall where it hit with a slam.

"Can't trust who Beej?" Lydia asked softly from the front door, having heard him screaming and rushing around to check what was the matter.

He stared at her with an incredulous look on his face.

"You…door… locked, how, outside, now tell me!" he spat out all out once, holding her by the shoulders and demanding an answer.

"You left the back door unlocked!" She said, her eyes wide in a startled expression.

Doh. He thought to himself, closing his eyes and beating his forehead into the wall, causing Lydia to have to dodge dust and debris falling from the ceiling.

She could have left, and she hadn't, he thought, staring at her. Maybe she'd keep this promise, he dared to hope. Heck, maybe he'd finally make it out of this place!

Suddenly he felt something on his forehead. He jumped to see Lydia brushing off some of the debris on his forehead from where he had banged it against the wall.

"Are you ok?" She asked, genuinely concerned and confused.

"Uh. Yeah?" He said brightly, not quite knowing how to respond to kindness.

He looked at her again, but instead of feeling his normal possessiveness or even his normal apathy, he felt.. Well he felt… Whatever it was it was a warm feeling, and it was strange to him. Unfamiliar, but reminding him of something long, long forgotten, something that nagged at the corners of his mind, and made him think of warm fires, food, kisses and soft sheets. Wow, he really needed to get out of here, he thought, he was starting to go crazy! It was enough to make him think that he was starting to have feelings! Ha!

He laughed after staring in silence for a moment, again startling Lydia. He seemed to be good at that.

Lydia cocked her head. He must be losing it.

"Uhm…BJ?" She whispered, calling him a new nickname. "Are you going to let me go now?"

"Um. I don't think so. No. I think my hands'll stay right where they are."

When she pushed herself away from him, his hands did indeed stay where they were, but they parted from the rest of him.

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well…if you insist." She grinned before falling back against the walls, crushing his hands.

"Awwwww!" Beetlejuice exclaimed, rushing towards his disembodied hands which had relaxed their grip on impact to fall onto the ground. Beetlejuice crouched over his fallen body parts, fumbling with them and trying to coax them back onto their stumps.

Suddenly he felt Lydia's presence leaning close to him. He turned and saw her kneeling beside him, holding one of his hands.

"Need a hand?" She teased, offering to affix his hand onto it's proper place.

"Hey now, I got this." He said, allowing her to put his hand back on. "Better hurry up though, Idle hands and all that you know. Dunno what these mischievous little fellers'll get into if left to their own devices"

Having said that, he used his newly reattached hand to reach out and grab the other missing appendage, just as it was making a leap towards Lydia.

Lydia watched him, still finding all of this unbelievable and awkward. Sighing, not sure what else to say, Lydia stood up and began to walk towards the book he had thrown. Beetlejuice's face paled even more.

"LEAVE IT!" He snapped.

Lydia spun to look at him.

"I was just going to get it for you."

"Yeah, well don't. Ok, I'm a grown man, I can do it myself all right!"

Having said this, he then proceeded to fail at picking up the book due to the fact that his hands were on the wrong arms.

Lydia chuckled at his folly and sighed.

"Here." She smiled as she took his hands and fixed them for him. Once they were properly attached she looked up at him and smiled, still holding his hands which were so large compared to her small ones.

"Better now?" She teased.

Beetlejuice stared at her, not sure what to say. Her small hands were wrapped around his wrists and there was a strange warmth emanating from where her hands lay and spread through out his body. He blinked. He hadn't been warm like this in so long…Why was she so small yet so warm?

Confused and frightened, Beetlejuice pulled away and picked up the book, and began to walk to his room, the room that he had been locking himself up in.

Lydia watched him, her heart aching from loneliness. She had no one to talk to here…at least at home she had Adam and Barbara. Here, there was no one. She was so desperate…

"Beej?" She started, angry that she had come to this. "Will you please just stay out here with…me?"

"What? Why would you ask me to do something like that?" He asked, sounding nastier then he meant to, and honestly confused. "Look hun, you wanted to get away from me right? You were pretty clear about that, so I think I'm being pretty darn nice keeping myself out of your hair like this."

Lydia looked away, her feet becoming very interesting.

"I know…" She whispered softly. "But I have no one, I'm so lonely. I-I may be Goth and seem a little creepy but that doesn't mean I…sigh…never mind."

Lydia turned from Beetlejuice and slowly walked toward the living room, thoroughly hurt and embarrassed.

"Hey now, Lyd' What'cha need to talk to the Beej-ster about?" He asked, trying to sound cheery for her sake.

Lydia turned to face him, eyes wide at the sound of her name, though shortened. He had never called her by anything resembling her name before. Sighing she looked back at her feet.

"Beej. I know you don't want me to leave the house but…" She looked back up at him. "I'll never find out anything if you don't let me out."

At his silence, Lydia took a few steps towards him.

"BJ, I swear to you that I wouldn't leave you." She blushed at the way she had worded that. Oops.

"Well, Lyd, I'm actually worried more about you getting lost, or worse, out there by yourself." Having admitted that he worried about her, he hastily added "So, babe, if you're going anywhere, I have to come with you," hoping that she wouldn't notice that first bit.

Lydia smiled and fought a giant urge to wrap her arms around his neck. Blushing, she shook her head, clearing that thought.

"But Beej, you are always off doing whatever it is you do. I hardly ever see you as it is. Will you have time to go with me? We're running out of time…" She mumbled, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Hey babe, for you, I'm nothing' but time." He said, turning into a giant clock to emphasize his point.

Lydia giggled then ran over and hugged his clock form without thinking about it.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed.

Despite himself, Beetlejuice hugged her back, his clock-arms wrapping around her, holding her and desperately needing her warmth, her touch. Again, he felt that odd feeling, that distant feeling, this time much closer, much stronger, surging through him and filling his veins with a peculiar warmth that left him feeling giddy-- and still holding Lydia who, he was sure was going to notice that his hug had lasted a bit too long to still be considered just friendly.

"Beej'?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest, his having somehow returned to his normal form without his thinking about it.

"Sorry toots, lost track of time there, he-he, get it? Cuz' I'm not a clock anymore?" He explained needlessly to her, more to distract her from the fact that he'd just hugged her back, "Oh, you'll get it later."

Lydia shook her head, grinning.

"Beej, you're such a goof."

Then she realized that his arms were wrapped around her, holding her close. She blushed madly, he was so cool. His body was giving off a sweetly cool feeling. Slowly she looked up at him, her eyes wavering. God help her…he actually smelled good. A mix of spice and sandal wood, it filled her senses, making her dizzy. Confused and frightened, she pulled away.

"Well…I-We should get started bright and early tomorrow!" She laughed nervously before backing away towards her bedroom.

"Uhh, you ok there toots?" Beetlejuice asked.

"Yea, why?"

"Cuz it is the morning."

"Well.. Um.. I'm already tired, and maybe I just wanted to get a nice long sleep! There!"

"Well… ok. But just so you know, for a second there I almost thought you were going to kiss me."

"Kiss you!" She blushed harder if such a thing was possible. "Maybe if you brushed your teeth and didn't have beetles running around in there. Heck, you'd have to clean your whole self up before I'd even consider it, which I'm not mind you before you go getting ideas." She said to cut off his growing leer.

He ran his tongue experimentally over his teeth, only catching one beetle in the process. Hey, it wasn't that bad, normally there'd be at least three.

"Well, it's not like I'd consider cleaning my mouth of all things. I don't even like my floors clean, and your mouth should never be cleaner then the surface ur' eatin off of, I always say."

Lydia tried to laugh away her passing disgust. It wasn't hard, as comical as Beetlejuice always acted.

"What, are you afraid of the water Hot-shot?"

"I ain't afraid of no water! I'm scared of dissolving!" He said, sniffing armpit.

"You try being dead this long, see how good you smell." he challenged.

"Um, I'd rather avoid that for as long as possible, and if you want to help me with that, please take a shower. Sometimes I think I'm going to pass out when you get close. You're rather strong."

She neglected to mention that it wasn't usually from bad smells, though he could certainly use the bath, but still it was close enough to the truth.

Lydia stared at him, challenging him.

Beetlejuice stared at her, becoming slightly embarrassed (a feeling he'd never had before). He never cared what people thought of him…it added to the whole scare effect. But, he didn't want her to pass out in disgust every time he came near her.

Lydia yawned, stretching sleepily.

Beetlejuice blushed at the sight, which aggravated him.

"I'm gonna go to sleep." She mumbled. "Tomorrow morning we will start our search!"

Beetlejuice blinked.

"Yea, sure thing toots. It's still morning, but you do what ever your little heart desires."

Beetlejuice walked toward the door, pausing after it closed behind him to sniff both his armpits again.

"Huh, I think I smell good." He said, with an crooked shrug and even more crooked grin, before pulling a beetle out from his underarm and pausing to pop it into his mouth.

"Oh well. I guess if I'm going to impress this lil missy I'd better make myself a little more presentable like." He wondered to himself exactly what those boys at her school looked like… Well, they have mirrors in their locker rooms don't they? Maybe he'd give them a visit topside, get a few ideas about the kind of guy she was into.

"Ain't been a girl yet who could resist this yet!" He said to a few dozy trees, flexing his arms to little effect.

"And I'm not planning on letting that trend start now! Once you let one of them get away, next thing you know you're hopping bars at 3AM lookin for drunk chicks."

"Not that there's anything wrong with that you know." He hastily amended to the incredulous gazes the trees gave him at his prior statement. "Drunk girls need lovin too you know. Cant be discriminatory. 'Side's it would be criminal to tease them with all this manliness then not give them what they want."

He winked at the trees.

"Hey, they may scream and run away, but callin the cops is just playin hard to get. I know they want it."

He pulled out a little pocket mirror from his, well, pocket, and peered into it intently. His thoughts swirled the gray in the mirror until, instead of reflecting his studly (in his opinion) features, it instead looked out into a high school locker room.

A few seconds later, there was a scream, and Beetlejuice fumbled to put the mirror away before whatever that big guy had thrown at him hit. Besides, he'd seen more then enough already. Tonight he planned to see if Lydia was bluffing about the guys at her school, or if she was just like all the other broads out there. "Always wantin' a piece of the Beetlejuice." He said, though this time, it was more to keep up his bravado then because he really believed it.

That night, Lydia woke from her nap. Groggy and dizzy, she stumbled out of bed and out into the main hall where she saw a blurred figure in front of her. Beetlejuice blinked at her. Her hair was sticking up all around her and her eyes were half lidded and hazy, staring at him unsurely, obviously not able to see him clearly. Her lips were parted and slightly swollen from laying on her arm.

Beetlejuice looked at her, thinking that she had certainly grown up a lot from the young woman he had know those years ago.

Shaking her head, Lydia rubbed her eyes so she could see. When she looked back up she saw a young man with thick brown hair and narrowed blue eyes standing in front of her. Her heart stopped.

"Aaron? What the heck are you doing here???? Did HE bring you here??! Oh this is all my fault! I'm sorry!"

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, not sure what else to say to him but she knew she was going to give Beetlejuice a piece of her mind! How dare he drag poor Aaron into this!

"Yeah? Well come give me a hug then." Said Beetlejuice, not caring that she thought he was Aaron.

Lydia blinked in shock.

"What? But…but you hate me." She said, thoroughly confused. "You told me so as you dropped your plate of spaghetti onto my head at lunch the other day!"

"Oh, I did? Um, well, that's cuz I was just tryin' to play hard to get you know. Kinda like you do with that Beetlejuice guy."

He grinned, almost betraying himself with his unusually wide toothy smile.

"What a great guy."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you--Oh." Her grin widened, realization dawning on her.

"You really think so? I think he is the worst person I've ever met! I can't wait to get out of here so I never have to see him again!"

"Really? Because you told me the other day that you thought he was the studliest guy you'd ever met. Don't you remember?" Said Beetlejuice, sliding up next to Lydia who wasn't quite fast enough to pull away.

"Besides, he can't be as bad as all that, can he?" He asked, a little hurt that she would think so poorly of him even after their understanding.

Lydia hid a blush at how close he was to her, knowing who he really was. She shook her head, clearing that thought.

"No, really. He's horrible! You should get out as soon as you can!" She cried, an idea coming into her head.

Faking a sweet smile, she leaned up close to his face, brushing the hair from his face.

"It would kill me to see anything happen to you, Aaron."

"Well.. Uh. Yea, well you'd better take good care of me then toots." He pulled away a bit so she couldn't see his blush at her touch. She must really like the Aaron guy, he jealously thought.

Ugh, why did he care again?

"Cuz you know, this mean broad kicked me earlier and it left me with a nasty bruise. Maybe you could kiss it for me and make it all better?"

Lydia felt her face go beat red. Oh she hated Beetlejuice! Well, two could play this game and she was going to make him pay! Even if it had to be pretending to like Aaron. She shuddered. She didn't know why that seemed to upset Beetlejuice but hey, whatever worked.

Lydia brushed her knuckles against his cheek softly, choosing to ignore his statement because God help her she had no idea how to respond to that without giving the fact that she knew it was him away.

"Please go." She whispered, laughing on the inside. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"And leave a fine dame like you here all alone? I doubt it!" Beetlejuice laughed, hoping she didn't notice the blush that emanated from the warmth of her hand and body against his. "Besides, I wouldn't want to leave you here alone with that Beetlejuice guy. There's no telling what he might seduce you into." He added with a wink, his hand on her buttock.

Lydia jumped in shock, which caused her to lean in closer to him, her blush deepening. She frowned up at him.

"He couldn't seduce me to do a damn thing. I hate him." She grumbled.

"Really? Well what about me?"

Lydia's eyes widened. Crap, she had been caught in her own little game. Damn him! Her mouth opened slightly as she stared up at him. What was she going to do???

Blushing madly, she looked away.

"I…I don't think so Aaron. I-I'm not ready for anything like that." She whispered truthfully. "If I-I ever did it would have to be with someone who loved me and only me…"

Love again, he thought, that darn thing kept creeping up everywhere!

"Well babe, what's love got to do with it? Aren't I attractive enough for you? Didn't you say that you liked my body? I've got a heart and all that, what more do you want from me?"

Lydia honestly looked up at him sadly. He didn't understand, he truly didn't. Poor Beetlejuice…She sighed as she felt her heart melt slightly. He had remembered what she had said and he was trying…God only knew what for and it was probably just to get into her pants but it still made her smile.

"Aaron." She started, truthfully. "No, I don't find you attractive. I mean, yes you are cute but you aren't what I'm looking for."

She looked up into his eyes but was trying to reach out to Beetlejuice.

"I honestly haven't found what I'm looking for." She whispered before pulling away and headed toward the kitchen.

"Well what does it look like? Maybe I can help you find it then."

Lydia stopped, grinning. Despite everything he was so damn innocent and yes, she blushed, it made that part of him endearing. She'd never admit it to anyone, including herself though.

"Honestly Aaron. I don't think I'll ever find it."

"Oh. Well, I've got, um, weights to go lift, so uh, when you see Beetlejuice, tell him how awesome we both think he is for me ok?" He said before walking out of the room, shoulders once again slouched over dejectedly.

Lydia sighed, why was being around Beetlejuice so difficult? And what the heck was he up to??

Beetlejuice was, again, gone doing whatever knows what. Lydia grumbled, he had better be back by dawn so they could start their search! She wanted OUT! Bored and not sure what to do, Lydia walked out the back door, which the dummy had left open again, to sit out on the lawn. As she neared the spot she usually occupied she saw the trees waving at her from the nearby forest. She grinned and waved back. Needing some company, she walked down the path to them.

"Hey Lydia!" They all said in unison, which sounded quite odd.

Lydia grinned.

"Hey guys, mind if I take a walk?"

The trees shook as if they were shaking their heads. Smiling, Lydia began to walk through the path that they were making for her. She just hoped that she would be back by the time Beetlejuice got back. She honestly didn't want him to be mad at her.

Fifteen minutes went by when she noticed something shimmering in the distance off the path the trees had made. Interested, Lydia began to head towards it when two of the trees leaned over and blocked her path.

"No Miss Lydia! You cannot stray from the path!" They warned.

Lydia looked past them at the shimmer.

"But there's something over there." She insisted.

The trees shook their branches.

"Leave it be! That area is off limits."

Lydia crossed her arms across her chest.

"Says who?"

The trees shrugged.

"It was Mrs. Juno and Mr. Beetlejuice, Miss." One of the trees started.

Lydia looked at them confused.

"Really? Why?"

"We do not know, Miss." The other trees answered. "It was many, many, many years ago…Mr. Beetleman had just arrived here. He told us to never let him nor anyone else retrieve the things he had placed there. Said he wanted to forget, he did."

Lydia stared off at the shimmer. Beetlejuice? What did he want to forget? And why was Juno with him?? Biting her lower lip, she looked back up at the trees.

"Look, I REALLY need to get over there. It may be of use, whatever that is. I'm honestly trying to help Beetlejuice."

The trees looked at each other, skeptical and unsure of what to do.

"But he insisted…"
Lydia looked desperate, almost pleading.

"Please, I NEED to do this! For both his and my sake!"

The trees sighed. Lydia had never done anything to make them believe she was evil since the day she had arrived. She had stayed pretty close to the Beetleman, even when he left the back door open, which he seemed to do a lot.

The swayed back into their upright position.

"Alright, Miss. Lydia. But please…be careful."

Lydia grinned and hugged both of the trees before running off towards the shimmering light.

It seemed to take forever before she finally reached it. The shimmer was coming from inside a small building, a shack really. She cocked her head.

"What the-"

Nervous but determined, Lydia gripped the rusted handle and pushed the door in. As soon as the door was open the shimmer disappeared. She blinked.

Weird.

Slowly, she stepped inside the building, disturbing the dirt into dust around her. Coughing, she looked around. Her mouth dropped. There were trinkets and sketches everywhere. At one corner there was a small wire-haired and straw toy made to look like a horse. Her heart melted as she touched it softly. A child's toy. She looked to her side then and noticed a pile of papers. Careful not to make them crumble, she blew the dust from them and tried to read what was written. That was a failed task however considering she could not understand the script, it was completely foreign. Sighing, she set the papers down and then noticed a pile of thick papyrus-looking paper. She blew the dust off and gasped at the contents.

It was a sketch…a couple of sketches. The first one was of a family which consisted of a small boy no older than five, a tall, beautiful woman whom she supposed was the mother, a muscular man with a full beard and mustache who must have been the father, and a little girl with curly hair standing next to the boy, arms wrapped around him. She looked to be about a few years older than the boy, who was grinning obliviously. Lydia smiled.

Too sweet.

The next sketch was of a war horse with a menacing look placed upon it's features. Lydia immediately set that one down and gasped as she saw the third one. It was of a young man with shoulder-length curly hair pulled back into a low pony tail. Lydia felt herself blush. The young man was very handsome, his eyes seemed to be staring right through her even though they were lines on a piece of paper. He was dressed in simple clothing that hung loosely around him. But even though they were loose, she could still see the many muscles that adorned him. Her blush deepened.

Why did he seem so familiar? Why did she feel like she KNEW him? And why did Beetlejuice want all of this hidden? Did he know the man in the picture? Was he family?

So many questions flooded her mind. Shaking slightly, she grabbed the three pictures and ran out the door, which closed behind her of its own accord. Squeaking in fear, Lydia ran faster to where she felt, oddly, the safest, back to his home.

Once she arrived at his house, Beetlejuice was standing there, a look of fear and anger mixed in his features.

"Where were you?!" He hissed.

Lydia stared up at him.

"I'm sorry, I just went for a walk. See? I didn't leave!" She said as she spun around, showing that she was all here.

"What've you got in your hands there? Lemme see that!" He said, half recognizing the papers, but not wanting to know what they were, hoping that they weren't what he thought they were.

Lydia clutched the papers to her chest, staring at him with wide eyes.

"I-I found them." She mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

"Those damn trees…" Beetlejuice mumbled to himself, spitting about some bonfire he was planning on having. "Fine! Keep the damn things, don't want them anyway."

Lydia blinked at the way he was acting. Feeling a little guilty, she reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Don't be mad…" She started. "I was just trying to help…I thought they would be of use to us. They said that you knew about them." She mumbled, talking about the trees.

"Well you can help by burning those stupid pictures." Beetlejuice said with a nasty tone to his voice, serious for once, and not at all his normal goading self. Whatever it was that she had found, it was making Beetlejuice actually upset to the point that he was forgetting about his whole apathetic attitude he kept as a front up all the time.

"I don't want to remember ok. It was a long time ago, and you've no right to take me back there. Besides there was nothing good about all that anyway, and it's just as well that I've been here. At least here I have some power and people will listen to me." He looked back at Lydia having sat down on the stairs in the main room. "Though I guess I wont be upset as long as they'll help you figure out a way to get me out of here and back up there where I belong. I'm getting tired of being the Ghost with Most. I'd like to be the Dude with the 'tude for a while or maybe even The Guy who's pretty Fly. Heck I'd even settle for guy-who's-alive." He sighed. "Even if it gives you some power, being dead kinda takes away all the enjoyment of it. How many times can I scare the same stupid ghosts before they just start to ignore me anyway." His head hit his hands and his eyes focused on the wall as he drifted off into thought, apparently forgetting that Lydia was still standing there holding the pictures of him and his family, her mouth agape and staring at him, wondering just what in the world that was all about. Why would he get so upset over some old dusty drawings, she thought, they're just lines on paper.

At the sight of his depressed face, Lydia's heart melted, urging her forward. Setting the pictures down, She leaned in front of him, setting her hands on his knees. When he refused to look at her, Lydia felt tears burn the back of her eyes and she let her resolve go.
"Beej…" She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. "I'm sorry."

"Huh?" he asked snapping out of his daze. "Oh, no, it's ok toots, you just surprised me is all. I'd forgotten all about those dumb things. If you wanna look and me and my stupid family, then suit yourself. We're all dead now anyway… well some of us more then others anyway."

Lydia refused to let go, feeling oddly safe leaning against him like this. Who was supposed to be comforting who??

"You and your family aren't stupid Beej." She whispered against his neck, blushing as his smell of sandalwood and spice filled her senses.

"Well if I had one I guess they wouldn't be. But I don't anymore and that's just the way it is I guess. Look, if you're going to keep the pictures then keep them, but I don't like sitting here and mopin' It's just not me ok?" He stood up. "I like ya kid, but you do weird things to me. Half the time when I'm around you I hardly feel like myself."

Lydia stared up at him, her brown eyes wavering, confused at his words. He felt something hitch inside of his chest.

"Don't look at me like that…" He mumbled before taking a look at the pictures she had left on the steps. He hissed as he saw his portrait. That had been drawn right before it had happened.

Grumbling, he stomped off.

Lydia blinked. Then she looked down at her hands and noticed how dirty they were. Grimacing she looked back up.

"Beej?" She mumbled.

Beetlejuice stopped but did not turn around, actually feared looking at her for reasons he did not understand.

"I-I really need to take a shower. I'm filthy."

Beetlejuice grimaced at the word 'shower'. Why did she want to take one of those?? He sighed. Breathers.

"Fine." He said simply. "Downstairs in the basement, second door to your right."

Lydia jumped up, excited.

"Thanks!" She chirped before running downstairs.

Lydia sighed contently as she wringed her hair out into the tub. That was so much better. How could Beetlejuice "live" without taking a shower?

Running her fingers through her wet hair, Lydia wrapped her towel around her bare body and snuck out of the bathroom and up the stairs, hoping she could make it to her bedroom. However, as soon as she made it to the top of the stairs, Beetlejuice passed by. Seeing the motion from the corner of his eye, he turned to see Lydia in nothing but a towel that was wrapped loosely around her, her hair curling around her face, dripping. Her eyes were wide, staring at him in shock, a light blush creeping its way across the bridge of her nose and her cheeks.

If her eyes were wide, Beetlejuice's were wider, his mouth slightly agape has he luxuriated in her image. My god, he thought, she had certainly grown into a beautiful young woman.

"B-Beej…" She mumbled, shocked into her spot.

"… um yeah?" he said after a moment, trying hard to keep his eyes on hers.

"You're um…you're in my way…" She blushed even harder, taking a step forward to emphasize her point.

"Yeah, well, your towel's-I mean you're- in mine, kid."

Lydia clutched her towel to her, feeling it slip slightly.

"Well…you were in mine first!"

"Um, what're you doing like that anyway? If you're going to be like that in the shower, maybe I'll think about taking one with ya, how'd you like that? Sides, where's your clothes anyway?"

Lydia blushed even farther but tried to cover up her embarrassment.

"I was waiting for you…" She spat, obviously joking. "To take a shower you need to take off your clothes dummy, how else would you clean yourself?"

"Don't call me a dummy, you dummy. How're you going to get your clothes clan if you don't wear them into the shower with you?"

Lydia grinned despite herself. Why did he have to be so cute? WHAT THE?! Lydia shook her head, she hadn't meant to think that!

"You wash those separate, B." She giggled, calling him yet another nickname.

"You what them?"

Lydia rolled her eyes.

"You WASH them separately. In a washing machine…or in your case a tub by hand."

"Why would you, 'wash' them?"

Lydia smacked her forehead.

"So they are clean Beej." She laughed. "I like things to be clean…most humans do."

"Well we won't talk about why you're inferior I guess. You should really go put some clothes on… or not, if you catch my drift.." He leered at her, wiggling his eyebrows as he tried to lean against the wall to pose in front of her.

"Eep…" She squeaked as her hand involuntarily flew to her chest, clutching the towel even tighter.

"W-well maybe if you moved out of my way I could go put some clothes on."

"Maybe if you moved that towel out of my way…" He leered.

Lydia's eyes widened even farther, her heart beating fast. But oddly, she wasn't afraid of HIM.

"BJ!" She snapped.

"Alright fine." He sighed, grinning at her. "Your loss."

Lydia scrunched up her face, on her defense and yet again ready to tease him. He seemed to love to do that to her!

"You know Beej," She said as she tried moving past him. "You seem so desperate to get with me off all people that I am beginning to wonder that you have never even done anything before, with anyone."

Beetlejuice blinked, shocked. How the Hell did she know?? SHE COULDN'T KNOW THAT! HE HAD A REPUTATION!

"I've been with plenty of women!" He snapped, blocking her way. "And they always come back for more."

Lydia felt something inside of her become furious, a small part of her becoming jealous. She shook her head. Screw that! She was NOT jealous! She COULDN'T be jealous! She despised Beetlejuice! Didn't she?

Lydia sneered.

"I doubt that."

Beetlejuice leaned in close to her, causing her eyes to widen.

"You just wish you were the first…" He said in a low grumble.

Lydia's heart began to beat even faster. She frowned, trying to cover it up.

"I don't want to EVER be with you! And I doubt any woman would!" She hissed before grinning. "Or that any one HAS."

"Heh, you sound just like all my ex-girlfriends."

Lydia sneered.

"Ex-girlfriends eh? Sounds like you can't keep 'em satisfied."

"Keep it up toots and I might prove to you how wrong you are. I ditched them, not the other way around, but they always come crawling back sooner or later."

Lydia stared at him.

"Then you're an asshole."

"Maybe, but at least I'm not standing in the middle of the room wearing a towel. I'd call you a whore for walking around like that, but frankly I don't think you'd have what it takes to make it in that profession."

Lydia felt fury and hurt bubble inside of her. Infuriating her even more was the feel of tears burning the back of her eyes. She smacked him across the face.

"GO TO HELL!" She snapped, backing up against the wall, too furious and hurt to walk properly.

Feeling bad now, but unable to show it and not really sure what to do to make her feel better, (not even sure why the sight of her tears upset him so much) he did the first thing that came to his mind. He walked up next to her and drew her into his arms, pulling her to him in, what he hoped, was a caring embrace.

"I'm sorry Lyd' I didn't really mean to hurt your feelings, no one cares what I have to say anyway, so I just say whatever pops in my head without giving it any thought. I'm sorry."

Lydia stiffened at the feel of his arms wrapping around her half-naked body. However, as soon as he had pulled her against his body, feeling the comforting coolness of his body, the tears began to flow freely.

"I hate you…" She sobbed, pounding his chest weakly, not bothering to pull away. She would never admit it aloud, but it felt so good to be in his arms. She felt so safe and it frightened her. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you." But inside her mind she was screaming "I don't! Please don't hate ME!"

'I should hate you…but for some reason you make it so dang hard to…' She thought to herself, furious with her internal turmoil.

Looking into her eyes and seeing how upset he had really made her all he could manage to say was:
"Like I said, join the club kid."

Lydia bit her lower lip, trying to stop it from trembling. She didn't know what to say or do, all she knew was that she wanted to go home…and get some clothes on.

Still staring at him, she slowly began to walk backwards, towards her room.

Beetlejuice let her go, feeling guilty at what he had said. His gaze falling to the floor he started to wonder if there was any hot water left. Maybe he should go take a shower too…

He cringed a bit as the hot water hit his skin. The water came away almost black with filth, the accumulation of years of disgustingly miserable care.

He leaned out a little and pulled in a sponge from outside his shower and poured what he hoped was soap on it before lathering it over himself, trying to get the dead skin and filth fully off of him. He noted, sadly, that the soap must have been Lydia's because it smelled like her. Odd, how that made him wish she were here with him, he thought.

Back to business, he scrubbed some soap into his hair, actually feeling better then he had in years. Looking into the small mirror he'd put in the shower, he noticed that he actually had a full head of hair again… and more then that it was actually blond rather then just white and green! In fact he looked almost like he had the day he'd died. Better really, considering at least right now he was clean. He smiled into the mirror, surprised to see that his teeth were actually straight again. Odd, he thought, I liked them crooked because they scared people. But I'm not trying to scare Lydia, so I guess they went back to, well, normal.

Lydia. Thinking of her again made her brought up a multitude of emotions. He felt protective of her, always had since she came to him for help. He wondered if he would get to spend any time with her after she got him out of here, though he again wondered why he cared. For that matter he wondered at himself taking a shower.

"Heck, I guess anyone can use a shower once every hundred years or so." He smiled, turning off the water and stepping out of the shower to drip onto the floor. "But don't you count on it."

"Beej?" Lydia called. "Beej where are you? It's time to go!"

Lydia began to fret. She had looked all over the house and still had not found him! He had promised he would take her out to look for a solution! NOW WHERE WAS HE?

"In a rush much, kiddo?" Came the familiar smooth voice.

Lydia spun around, ready to give Beetlejuice a piece of her mind but she stopped dead in her tracks. Beetlejuice was leaning against the door frame, his blonde hair shading his eyes although she could still see the emerald glow of them. He was no longer wearing his crazy striped suit but a loose fitting white shirt that was unbuttoned, giving her a full view of his muscular chest. Oh God…he had…he had CLEANED himself!! He was still deathly pale for obvious reasons but all of the dirt and mold had been washed from his body. Her heart skipped a beat. HE was the handsome man in the picture!!!! It was Beetlejuice!! Lydia fought the urge to faint.

"Di-did you? Why did you clean yourself?" She asked, astounded.

"Well yeah, you said you humans liked clean guys."

Lydia blinked, staring at him, her heart beating faster.

"But why would you…" She couldn't finish her sentence.

"You're not dumb, even if you act like it sometimes. Don't toy with me girl."

Lydia blinked.

"Beej, what are you talking about?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Sometimes I don't even know." He said, hanging his head a bit.

He smiled at her, showing off his now-normal teeth. Lydia blushed, something in the pit of her stomach blossoming at his smile.

"Oh…I…Well, we should go now. I want to try and find something before dark. The-the sooner we find something the sooner I can go home." She whispered.

"Well be safe. And don't do anything I wouldn't!"

"Wait…" Lydia started, crossing her arms across her chest. "The only reason I waited this long is because YOU said you didn't want me to go by myself! Now you're saying I didn't have to wait!!!"
"No, I said that because I didn't trust you. Now I…do. Don't test it toots."

"UGH!" Lydia screamed, running her hands through her hair. "You are such a JERK!"

She snapped as she stomped out the front door.

"Well it's better than saying she hates me." Beetlejuice reasoned with himself.

"I DO TOO!" She snapped through the door.

"Oh." He said, visibly crestfallen.

Lydia walked through the very market place that she had been in her first day here. It was very busy and bustling like crazy.

"Watch it!" Yelled a gnome up at her.

"Oh! Sorry!" Lydia cried as she stepped over him.

As she looked around she noticed that it was pretty disgusting, the things sold in the market place. There were shops labeled "EYE SCREAM" and "THE GROSSERY STORE". Lydia cringed. She didn't want to think about the ingredients that Beetlejuice had been feeding her now. Suddenly she spotted a small shop labeled "BOOKS OVER THE AGES". Wondering if she would find some information from 600 years ago that would help her case any, Lydia began to walk towards it. But just as she started to walk she bumped into someone, causing them to drop their bags and grab her shoulders as if to steady the both of them.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" Lydia gushed as she started to help them pick up their bags.

"It's okay, Miss. I should have been watching out where I was going."

Lydia looked up and blushed. There in front of her was a young man with pitch black hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a regal outfit which fit him well. The man smiled and bowed.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Prince Vince, ruler of the Netherworld."

Lydia blushed and gave an unusual curtsy.

"My name is Lydia Deetz. Nice to meet you, your highness."

The man blushed pleasantly.

"Likewise, it is not every day that you meet a beautiful ghoul on the street."

Lydia blushed even more.

"Heh."

The prince raised an eyebrow.

"Are you new, my dear?"

"Well, yes actually. I'm trying to find something though so I really should-"

"Is it something I can help you with?" The prince interrupted. "I AM the prince after all."

Lydia looked up at him. Maybe he COULD help her! He had to know everyone and every rule in the Netherworld!

"Maybe you can." She started.

The prince grinned an evil plot hidden behind his eyes as he held out his arm.

"Come, let me take you to my castle and I will help you as much as I can."

Lydia grinned as she took his arm.

Beetlejuice paced back and forth restlessly inside his house. Where was that girl?? It was already dusk and she was not back yet! She hadn't gone off into the forest, he knew that much for sure. At least, that is what the trees claimed. He sighed deeply before plopping down onto a chair, staring out at the road. A small part of him began to worry that she had left him. He shook his head. No, she had promised.

"Lydia, where have you gone?" He said to nothing.

Lydia chuckled as the Prince continued to show him around his palace. He was very pleasant and it was surprisingly easy to laugh around him. The prince smiled at her.

"So why are you here Miss Lydia?"

Lydia froze, remembering what Beetlejuice had told her about telling anyone she was a "breather."

"Well, I-I got into an accident while trying to help some friends." She replied truthfully.

Vince nodded.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But what is such an angel like yourself doing here and not in heaven?"

Lydia blushed.

"I got caught up with the 'devil'." She joked, though Vince thought she was serious.

"I am so sorry."

Lydia shrugged. "I'm staying with someone who I feel…relatively safe with so I guess it is ok. I am just trying to be reunited with my family.

The prince thought for a second.

"Is that what you are looking for?"

Lydia nodded.

"Kinda, I just…I'm looking for a way out."

The prince gasped.

"My dear, I know you are upset but it is against the rules to leave!"

Lydia smiled at him.

"No, I made a deal. If I found an alternate way out other than to marry one of the living for someone else, I could be reunited with my family."

The prince thought for a second.

"Hm, well, that IS quite a predicament. How about you stay awhile and I will see what I can do."

Lydia looked out the window, the two suns outside were setting. She jumped out of her seat.

"Oh my gosh! It's getting late! I have to go, I promised someone!" She gushed as she started for the door.

"Your Highness, thank you so much for the tour. Do you think I could come back tomorrow and take you up on that offer?"

The prince sneered at her.

"I'm sorry, my dear. But you can't leave."

Lydia stopped, fear starting to catch a grip on her.

"What are you talking about?"

Before she knew what was going on, Lydia felt someone grab her from behind and press a wet cloth to her face, covering her nose and mouth. She began to feel dizzy, everything going hazy before pitch black. She fell limp. Vince grinned as he leaned over her sleeping body.

"I know you're alive, Lydia. And where I don't want out, you WOULD make a wonderful bride as a ghost."

(What is it with all the ghosts wanting to marry Lydia? Shrug Oh well, I hope you are enjoying this so far! R&R and let me know!)