Disclaimer: I do not own Beetlejuice or related characters, he belongs to Tim Burton. I do not own Beetlegeuse. I don't own Betelgeuse? I don't own any of the weird spellings for his name.

Betelgeuse?

Written By: Melanie Ray

Chapter Nineteen: I Think It's Prudence

Sucked. Benny looked over toward Kathleen again. So close, yet so far. Even though he'd only moved in two weeks ago, he was already closer to her than any girl his age. He wasn't exactly a prince charming with the ladies. With Kathleen though, the more he acted like himself, the more she gravitated toward him.

His mom would freak if she even knew he was trying to get her to go out as more than a friend. She'd assume Kathleen was manipulating him into becoming the dad or something. It wasn't like that though. She kept him in the friend zone, no matter what. Even though she seemed to meld with him, at the same time, it was the reason they went so well together that . . . they could probably never be together.

He reminded her of her old friend. He doubted it though, the way she dreamily described him at times. Friends didn't talk about each other that way. Whether it was one way or not, she was definitely in love with the old friend he reminded her of.

At first, it seemed like such a good thing. How easy was it to get close to a girl when another guy did all the work? Well, it wasn't. He could be real good friends with her. He could probably even become a best friend one day, but because of his mannerisms. His personality. He'd never get closer.

Kathleen never looked at other guys. She never got out of the house. She didn't do things that matched the personality that he saw beneath all the fake appearances. He wanted Kathleen, but he was obsessed to find the real her beneath the whole façade.

The timing just felt right though. He was getting in deeper to the friend zone, he had to try and ask her out. Frustrated! Why? Why couldn't he get in closer to her? What did this other guy have that . . . "What?" Beetlejuice looked down at himself. Those were Benny's clothes. Damn. When a leader of hell wants something done, he's fast."Uh, speak of the devil."

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked from across from him. She looked over at BG. "Benny, I think you should go home. BG is really tired."

Beetlejuice glanced toward BG. So, that's it. Him, I mean.Decades of being dead didn't properly prepare him for fatherhood. BG was sleeping with his head down in his high chair. He may not have known the first thing about being a dad, but he did know one thing. Those clothes suck. That high chair's stupid. Is he wearing booties with smiling bunnies on his feet? He caught himself in time before he changed everything. He was more than ready to zap everything back to the way it should be, but this situation? He didn't know much. He didn't know anything about his other half, Benny, except he was trying to freaking date Lydia. Not sorry I took over your body."How often does the kid sleep?"

"I told you, he has a special condition." Lydia was getting fidgety as she tossed her golden curls back. "Now, please. My answer isn't going to change. I just want to be friends."

"That's perfectly fine with me," Beetlejuice added quickly as he slapped the table. "Let's go for a ride. BG needs fresh air."

"I'm not falling for that," Lydia answered him as she stood up from the table. "Look, I know we're about the same age, but I don't have the freedom others do. I don't want to hurt your feelings. Just go."

Okay, this wasn't going to work. Heh, good. Benny was miles from taking Lydia away.He needed a new strategy. Hang on."I think it Prudence you should come for a ride with me."

"You mean prudent?" Lydia looked at him strangely. That wasn't a word Benny seemed like he would say.

"I think it Prudence you should come for a ride with me," Beetlejuice said again, this time with a wink. "I knew you gave Bertha about two months ago."Come on.

Lydia covered her mouth. "It can't be."

"If we go for a ride, we can be alone. Right?" Ugh, letting her know it was him and the info he wanted without blowing his cover was tough, but at least she was getting the hint.

"If we go for a ride about . . ." Lydia was thinking. " . . . the next town over has wonderful milkshakes."

They had their eyes on the town. "Great. We'll go in . . . my car or your car?" He watched Lydia reach for BG.

"We always take rides in your car, silly," Lydia said as she almost scrambled for a purse. She pulled out the keys quickly. Beetlejuice stood up behind her, chalantly whistling. One town. He looked over at the sleeping baby. I need to do this sooner or later. I've picked up kids before. It won't be any different. He watched the little feet of BG as he picked him up. He caught a look from Lydia, but now wasn't the time to break character. "Let's go for that ride. Um, dude." BG was still sleeping as he headed out the door with Lydia.

When they reached the car, she took BG and strapped him in while 'Benny' took the front seat. She got in on the passenger side, and they took off.

"So." He looked over at her. "Donny."

"Donny is such a good Uncle, isn't he?" Lydia said, playing the game the same way he had been. "Not every Uncle only lives down at the end of the block from their nephew."

Good. Donny was still around. Beetlejuice thought they might have taken him out. As much as he couldn't stand his brother, he was still his brother. His neitherworld brother. The neitherworld was the only life he'd ever known. Used to death or not . . . dying sucked! It was never easy, the process of losing the body. While he drove, he found himself looking at his hands.

This time, he felt different. Was it the complete feeling that the sandworm demon had spoken of?

"We are almost out of town. For the milkshakes," Lydia added. "It'll be closing soon. I hope we make it."

Beetlejuice gave the car more gas. As soon as the leaving the town sign popped up, he felt the biggest hug from Lydia he'd ever felt. She was almost choking him, but he wouldn't tell her to let go in a million years.

"How?!" she asked excitedly.

"Hang on one second." He shook his finger toward her, bringing her old clothes, her black hair, and some much better shoes back to her. "There."

Lydia looked down at herself. Her old spider red cape. She felt it's old, familiar texture. It was something she didn't have in her world, and she'd been glad of it. It was so hard not to start to cry.

Beetlejuice was back, and her heart was leaping at something she had dared not do for months.

Hope.

"Are you here for good, or is this a sort of possession, one-time thing?" she had to ask. Please tell me you are here to stay forever. Please. You don't know how bad I need you in my life.

"Ben-ben was my other half," he said as he used his magic to draw a crack down the center of himself. "Turns out that those screwed up papers mixed up my soul too. Paperwork. You know I hate it."

Oh, goodness. It felt so good to hear those kinds of words from him again. "They split your soul in two?"

"Yeah, but I'm back together. A bit. I'll eventually remember the 'Benny' side of me." Not something he felt like looking forward to. However that guy felt wasn't him. "But I'm back for good, and this time, no stupid gun shot is getting me." He gestured to the car. "I put bulletproof siding and windows around this thing as soon as we got out of the town. Nobody gets a drop on me twice."

He was serious. She half expected him to turn into an M and E and have something drop on him, but he didn't. It was too risky for driving. He's being responsible. That was a little creepy. He had the power to do that too? She knew BJ had power, he always did, but he couldn't do everything. Had becoming whole made him more powerful?

"Speaking of Ben-Ben, his fashion has to go." Beetlejuice zapped himself into his old black and white striped suit.

Lydia almost sighed. It was nice to see her old friend in his familiar clothes. The closest thing to home she could imagine. Except, he kept zapping himself over and over too. "What's wrong?"

"What the hey?" He scratched his head. "I can't change my age. I can change my hair back, and my outfit, but I can't change this age?" Uh, freaking reincarnation joining rule somewhere. He needed a handbook to . . . well, glance at. Probably not read, but at least look up things that occurred.

Well, at least he looked more like himself, and Lydia was better.

Lydia watched him zap something in the back. When she looked back, it was like a dream. She didn't imagine Beetlejuice would care to give the time of day. But. BG.

The old car seat of moon and teddies had been turned purple with jet black wings on the back of it. The tired and dull happy face blanket had been turned into a neon green blanket with spiders on it. Even the mobile that had been a sun, a moon, and a teddy had been converted into spiders and beetles.

"Wakey-wakey." Beetlejuice zapped the mobile to life. "Hey, look at that. Doesn't that look yummy?"

Hm. Lydia looked back and watched BG wake up. "Why are you waking him up?"

"Hm? Oh, just trying to save the world from going to hell." He wiped his nose with his thumb. "Nothing big at all."

Huh? "What do you mean, Beej?"

"The WDP's are the enemy, but they were there at his birth. Come on, Lyd. Figure it out."

"Wait, a spell?" Lydia looked toward the backseat. "Someone cast a spell on him?"

"The more he sleeps and doesn't learn his magic, the better chance his soul might wander off. Then it can't really be blamed on anyone," he explained. He looked toward the back seat in the rearview mirror. "Hasn't he ever juiced anything?" Besides the white hair, it was hard to see the resemblance to him.

Lydia looked toward the dashboard. She felt so foolish now about listening to the WDP. She didn't know who to trust after the kidnapping, and Donny wanting to join them sealed who she had to trust. "He used to. All the time. He really loved changing his room colors." It was hard to talk about everything out loud. "He had lots of power, but I . . . I forced him to forget. He still has them, it happens every once in awhile." But how could she go from all the no-no's to yes? She looked back at him. "He tries to do it when I'm not looking."

BJ turned the corner. "I'm the king of trickery, and even I was tricked. Don't take it hard." He zapped a beetle candybar over BG, just out of reach. "Come on. You know you want that. Just get it."

BG reached out his hands, but BJ floated it up higher.

"Please get it," Lydia encouraged him. "Come on. How many times does momma say it's okay?" He may have been almost three months old, but BG's supernatural heritage made him smarter than he looked. If she had worked with him the right way, he might even be talking. But, nothing supernatural. Helping him more would have made him 'unordinary'.

BG just reached out his hands again, still not using his magic. All that teaching wasn't going to be undone in a simple lesson.

"Well, no rest until he shows some kind of juice." BJ conjured up a fish in a frying pan and flipped it with one hand. "No time to waste, different fish to fry." He conjured it away again. "Where's your parents, Babe?"

"Gone. The WDP told them that I was dead." Lydia looked back at BG. It was hard to look at her best friend when she had messed up so bad. "I let them."

"Thought so." BJ pulled over to the side of the road and cracked his knuckles over the wheel. "They'll figure out your gone soon, and your folks and real friends are going to be the first thing they go after." He drummed the wheel. "They need to go to the neitherworld where no one can hurt them. Juno's a pain, but she should be able to get them there for an extended stay."

"The neitherworld? Extended stay?" Lydia looked back at the dashboard. "How are we going to pull that off?"

Beetlejuice conjured up some professional looking glasses on. "I believe the first step is letting them know you are alive, and finally admitting the truth."

Truth. Lydia didn't think she'd ever have to have that awkward conversation. She'd missed her parents for months, and her friends, but . . . "What about BG?"

"The whole truth this time. Heh, that sounds funny coming from me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. "Ben-Ben better have money." He looked in it. "Enough for now." He pulled into a nearby motel they were passing. He got out of the car. "You can talk but make it short. They can see the kid and get their oohs and ahhs out." He looked toward her. "Meanwhile, Donny will take them away until it's safe."

"Donny?"

"Beetlejuice." Donny came off from the top of the car. "I politely disagree with everything." He waved at Lydia before talking back to his brother. "I don't understand what you are doing. Shouldn't you be away? I wasn't supposed to see you for half a decade at least."

"That's a reasonable amount of time split from you," Beetlejuice answered. "You should keep believing that. Might even want to extend it longer."

"Oh, Beetlejuice. You're such a kidder," Donny smiled. "I don't agree with what you're doing."

"A spell was cast on the kid to let his soul wander away while he slept. The less supernatural he becomes, the better the chances it won't come back."

"But? That would have to be someone close."

"Yeah." BJ pointed to the motel. "Me and Lyd got things to talk about. After we're done, you need to zap everyone I bring to the neitherworld. Talk to Juno. She hates me, but she hates being kept out of the loop more."

"But. But." Donny sighed. "We've been the only ones watching over her, so . . .oh, I would have been such a good WDP."

"Yeah, yeah. Come on." BJ motioned with his shoulder.

"But how did you come back, and why are you your relation?" Donny asked.

"Later."

"Do you want me to stay with you and Lydia?"

"No."

"It would be safer."

"No."

"Okay. I love you, brother. I will be waiting right here for you."

"Eww." Beetlejuice tried to get to the motel right away. How was he ever related to Donny? He paid for the motel and went to the room with BG and Lydia. Holding out his arms, he looked one more time at Lydia.

It was time to confront the folks.